Stranded On An Island
by Tokenforyourthoughts
Summary: Ron is dead. Astoria is dead. Harry and Pansy decide to play matchmaker by throwing the two polar opposites onto an island, leaving them and their children to fend for themselves for 31 days. How will they survive?
1. Prologue

_Author's Note: This is my first fanfiction, so you know what that means. Be as harsh as you can be. Flame me. Criticize me. I need those. _

_Side note: I researched a little about aparation, and it seems that some people think a wand is required, while some others don't. I'm going to go with you need a wand to, as it helps my story._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any of the characters I use._

"Malfoy?"

"Granger," Draco acknowledged, without glancing her way. A tiny, miniature version of him was standing next to him, both men standing up straight. "We meet in the strangest of places."

"Really, I couldn't tell," Hermione said, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she watched her daughter, Rose, who was happily running around trying to catch the butterflies. "What, did Harry suddenly turn evil and decide to drop you out of a helicopter as well?"

"Potter did that?" His voice had a touch of amusement, though it was always hard to tell with him. "Guess he finally got annoyed at goodie goodie two shoes and decided to dump her on some island."

Hermione huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. Harry certainly hadn't _seemed_ annoyed at her; in fact, his face had been quite gleeful, and he had the nerve to _wink_ right before he dropped her. If she ever saw him again, she was going to toss him in the middle of the ocean.

"How did _you_ get here then?" She asked, watching as the miniature Malfoy trudged off towards Rose. "I don't suppose Zabini threw you off a helicopter as well?"

"Actually, no. Pansy tossed Scor and I onto a boat, told us good luck, and sent us on our merry way. We landed up here, and the boat immediately vanished. So we were stuck here, and who else would wander up but the Mud-"

"Shush!" Hermione interrupted, whispering. "There's children there! There's no need to introduce them to such a bad word."

Draco shrugged, and Hermione took a minute to calm herself down. She couldn't attack Draco in front of Rose, and also, Harry had taken her wand and when it came to physical strength, Draco would sure beat her.

"You can't aparate, then?"

Dracoraised an eyebrow. "Can you aparate without a wand, Granger?"

"Oh. Right." Hermione muttered.

They settled into a few minutes of silence, as Hermione looked around to take in her surroundings. It seemed like a nice place to live, if one forgot that she was stuck here with _Malfoy_. The land touching the endless ocean was sandy, and after the beach ended, came a forest that was so thick that Hermione couldn't see what was hidden deep within it. She hoped there were at least the material to built houses, as she didn't fancy sleeping outside, especially with not only one, but two Malfoys prowling around. She also hoped there was food, as she didn't fancy eating grass and leaves either.

"So," Hermione said, finally breaking the silence. Draco had finally turned around to face her, and his features were exactly as she remembered from the last time she saw him, which was right after the war ended. He showed no sign of having aged, besides his face showing a little maturity. "You married Astoria Greengrass, huh?"

"And you married Weasel." Draco stated. "How did that work out for you?"

Hermione shrugged and looked away; she hated talking about Ron. "Well, other than the fact that he died about one month after Rose was born, our marriage was fine."

"Did he," Draco said, though Hermione was surprised that all she could detect was a touch of thoughtfulness in it. "Can't say I'm sorry about your loss, as that would be completely out of character, but if it makes you feel better, I'm a widow as well."

"A widow?" Hermione's eyes widened. "Does that mean-oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't know her well, but she seemed as if she were a nice enough girl."

"I don't know why you're apologizing, Granger," Malfoy rolled his eyes. "There was nothing nice about that girl."

"Really," Hermione said hotly. "So she deserved to die just because she wasn't nice to you? I thought you grew up, Malfoy-"

"Don't," Draco interrupted her, his voice quiet but cutting. "Talk about things you don't know. She married me for money, I married her for the sake of having a heir. That was it. If she hadn't decided to foolishly try to _kill_ me and Scor for the money, then maybe she wouldn't have died."

"She tried to _murder _you?" Hermione gasped, placing her hand over her mouth. "How terrible have you been treating her, anyways?"

"Have you not been listening, Granger?" Draco said, starting to lose his calm façade, irritation etched on his face. "My mother is dead. My father is dead. All my remaining relatives are dead. The only thing stopping her from the money was me. And then Scor. So, she was plotting my death the whole time we were supposedly married. How do you suppose I feel about that?"

"Alright, then, I'm sorry, okay? For talking about things that I don't know," Hermione huffed.

"You don't sound very sorry,"

Hermione ignored him and continued to speak. "Though, that does not explain how she died, that only explains why your marriage may have not been as successful as mine." Here, she received a snort, which was also ignored. "What, did you order her assassination or something?"

"No," Draco said quietly, no longer meeting her eye. "I saved the trouble of pulling someone into this. I killed her myself."

There was a pause, where Draco turned back around to make sure she hadn't died. However, instead of seeing a bushy haired girl lying at his feet, he was greeted by the sight of a fist.

The fist which smashed into his nose only seconds later.

"Ow!" Draco yelled, and both Scorpius and Rose turned around to check what the commotion was. "Damn it, Granger, why did you punch me? You don't even _know_ her,"

"I-well-you still can't go around killing people!" Hermione replied. "Just file for a divorce or report her or something. I thought you weren't a murderer!" She backed away.

Not quick enough. Draco lunged forward, grabbing the front of Hermione's robes, his nose still bleeding freely. "Imagine Weasel standing there, his wand pointed at Rose's head, and he's taunting you, saying you don't have the nerve to kill him. You had your wand in your hand. What would you do?"

"Ron would never do that," Hermione said plainly. "Ron loves me and would've put his life in front of both Rose's and mine if it were necessary."

"Damn it, Granger, that's why I said imagine," Draco shifted his head slightly, so Scorpius, who was curiously looking over, couldn't see the blood gushing out of his nose. "If you can't imagine, then pretend instead of the Weasel standing there, it was me. What would you do?"

"I would torture you, and then murder you in fifty different ways, which is exactly the reason why you're not my husband."

"You don't get it, do you, Granger." He let go of her and ran his hand through his hair. "I hate Astoria Greengrass almost as much as I hated you. To me, it was just like you standing there with a wand pointed to my only son, blackmailing me to give you my money. Maybe to the extent of even Potter standing there. I panicked, all right?"

"Oh," Hermione said very quietly, trying not to look at his blood. What was she thinking? She couldn't go punching people just because they murdered their own wives without listening to the reason first. Then, something occurred to her. "Wait, you said hated."

Draco raised an eyebrow; clearly, that was not the response he had been expecting. "What did you say?"

"You said hated," Hermione clarified. "I hate Astoria Greengrass almost as much as I hated you. You hated me, past tense."

Draco finally got what she meant. "I haven't seen you in twenty two years, Granger," Malfoy said softly. "I'm not entitled to hate you."

"Didn't stop you from being mean to me."

Draco's trademark smirk returned. "Your reactions are too hilarious to pass up. Plus, I'm not the person who decided to punch you."

"I'm sorry,"

"No, you're not."

"I'm not?"

"No. You've been waiting forever to break my nose. I bet you want to bunch me again just to make sure it won't be healing any time soon, don't you?"

"Git."

"That insult it getting a little old, isn't it?" Draco smirked, as he watched Scorpius stomp all over Rose's sand castle, sending the girl into a crying fit. "Why don't you try something new?"

"What about ferret?" Hermione rolled her eyes, and then finally noticed the wrecked sand castle. "Control your son, Malfoy! How dare he, Rose worked hard on that!"

"What can I say, Granger? He learns from the best."

Hermione sighed and held out her hand for her crying daughter. "Come on, Rose, honey, it's alright. I'll build you another sand castle tomorrow."

"I don't like that boy," Rose blubbered, pointing towards Scorpius, who was now being patted on the shoulders by his dad. "He's _mean_."

Hermione squeezed her hand. "I know. Stay away from him."

"I _twied!_" Rose exclaimed, her 'r's coming out as 'w's. "But he won't let me! He keeps following me awound, calling me names." She looked down sadly.

Hermione glared over at the two Malfoys. "Malfoy!"

"Yes?" Was the irritated response, as both Scorpius and Draco turned around at the same time, scowling.

Hermione sighed; there was no way she was calling him Draco, though calling his son by his first name when she just met him seemed weird, especially since he looked like a mirror version of Draco. She was still deciding what to do, when Rose suddenly spoke up.

"You can call him," She said, pointing to Scorpius. "Midget Meanie. And you can call the other one Old Meanie."

Hermione couldn't help, but laugh out loud. Draco looked over at her, annoyed, the blood on his face only making him look more dangerous, but Hermione couldn't bring herself to care. Scorpius scowled again, and went back to fussing over his dad's face.

"Geez, I, can't, breathe." Hermione wheezed.

"Glad I amuse, Granger," Draco said, looking down at the figure rolling on the ground. "Though I must say, your laugh is quite spectacular. It sounds a little like a hyena."

"Mommy said she couldn't breathe." Rose proclaimed, tearing up. "She's dying! Mommy's dying! I don't want Mommy to die. Old Meanie, you must help Mommy."

This time, even Scorpius couldn't keep a smirk out of his face, and Draco scowled at his son. "She even has the same personality as her mother," He said. "So bossy. She doesn't even say please."

"When's the last time _you_ said please, Malfoy?" Hermione said, finally calming down as a squealing Rose flew into her and yelled: "Mommy, you're alive!"

"Malfoy's don't ask for anything, therefore we have no need to say please," Draco stated proudly. "Oh, and Granger? If we want to make it through this alive, I suggest we might want to make some rules. The first one would be obviously, no nose breaking. It hurts like hell."

Hermione stared at him. "You think we're going to make it through this alive? How long did Pansy tell you we were staying here?"

Draco shrugged. "Pansy didn't say. I deduced maybe a couple of days? They can't keep us here that long. As much as I hate Potter, I don't think he would be deliberately cruel towards you."

"That's where you're wrong," Hermione snorted. "Right before he tossed me out of the helicopter, he said, 'See you in thirty one days, Hermione.' In order words, we're stuck here for a month."

"A month?" Draco echoed faintly. "I'm bloody stuck with you for a whole _month?_"

"Yes," Hermione said, enjoying the fact that he seemed to be freaking out while she was remaining calm.  
>"A whole month, so I suggest we get over our differences and make things work."<p>

"Forget it, Granger, why don't we just ignore each other?" Draco snarled, obviously upset. "It'll be much easier. I don't think I can deal with seeing your stupid face for a whole month. I'm going to murder Potter and Pansy when I get back."

"That insult it getting a little old, isn't it?" Hermione raised her eyebrow, imitating him. "Fine with me. Rose and I will go the left path, you and Scorpius will go the right path, and we have a peaceful thirty one days."

"Fine with me," Draco stated, dragging Scorpius towards the right path. "Hopefully, I won't see your face until this stupid thing is over.

Of course, there was no such luck.


	2. Day 1

**Day 1**

_Hermione_

Thank god they had chosen the left path. She found a shack, and after snooping around, she cleaned up the shack and made it live-able. Rose had gone to gather some flowers, and they planted them in front of the shack. The place looked nice from the outside, and the beach on the edge of the island was really beautiful. Hermione was actually beginning to look forward to the next thirty one days.

That was until she remembered who was living on the other side of the island.

She worked the rest of the day in silence, a scowl constantly plastered on her face. She caught Rose looking at her with concern, but she ignored it. The two of them worked for two continuous hours, sweeping and cleaning the area, and building items such as chairs and tables out of wood.

"Mummy?" Rose asked quietly, looking slightly scared as she washed her hands in a nearby river. She was biting her lip, a usual sign that she was nervous. Hermione immediately felt bad about her silent treatment; her daughter hadn't done anything to deserve it. She scooped her up and hugged her.

"What is it, Rose?" She asked, smiling brightly so her daughter could see. Rose's face immediately lit up, and she hugged her mom back, squealing, happy to hear a sound that was not the running of the river.

"There was something up there," Rose said, pointing excitedly towards the forest that led up to a mountain. "I saw some smoking coming out of there. Is it, maybe," She bit her lip. "Mr. Old Meanie? I thought he said he wouldn't come over to this side."

Hermione sighed, and brushed her hair out of her eyes. "Why don't we go up and check, sweetie?" She asked, setting her daughter on the ground and standing up. "We can also see if we can find you some food up there. I don't know about you, but I'm famished." To prove her point, her stomach chose that exact moment to growl loudly.

Rose giggled. "Mummy, your stomach talks funny!"

Hermione grinned and took her daughter's hand in hers. The two walked up the mountain, talking about Rose's favorite topic, rainbows and sparkly ponies, all the way.

_Draco_

Damn that Granger. There was no water whatsoever on this part of the island, only endless rows of banana trees. He had managed to make a stable tent, and had Scorpius go gather some wood in case they needed some fire tonight, though the temperature was still hot and there was no way he was going to roast bananas over a fire.

He had called his house elf, Mindy, whose name he really wanted to change because it reeked _Astoria_, and she had apparated into his tent. She said that she was under strict orders from Master Harry Potter sir, (Draco almost gagged) that she mustn't tell him or Mistress Hermione Granger, (Here, Draco did gag and the house elf looked at him curiously) where they were, or apparate them back. Wondering what Potter and Granger did to deserve the title of Master and Mistress, Draco reminded Mindy that she was still his elf and commanded her to bring him some food. She did, and returned with bananas, fleeing before Draco could throw it back in her face.

Draco sighed, running his hand through his hair as he sat in his tent. Life sucked, as he was reminded constantly by Scorpius the entire afternoon. Not only were there only freaking _bananas_, the sun shone right on this side. Was it possible that Granger had somehow read the moon to determine where the sun was going to shine the most, and then picked the opposite side? Why couldn't he have gotten stuck with someone stupid, like Scarhead or one of the Weasels?

"Father," came Scorpius's voice from outside the tent. Draco could detect a slight bit of panic in it. "I think you should probably come out and see this."

Sighing, he picked himself up from his comfortable position of sprawling on the floor, and headed outside. "What is it, Scorpius? It better be something good-"

He was met with the sight of Scorpius staring down at a girl about four years old, her hair colored blonde enough to look like a Malfoy, and her icy blue eyes were currently drilling holes into his head.

"Well, Scorpius," Draco drawled, breaking the silence. "You didn't tell me you made a new friend already."

Scorpius's cheeks colored slightly and he looked away. "She's not my friend, Father. She just appeared out of nowhere and kicked me."

"Did you now," Draco looked down at the girl, who had crossed her hands over her chest and was pouting up at him. "Tell me, little girl, what's your name?"

"I'm no little girl!" She yelled at him, kicking his shin. Draco winced, and Scorpius tried unsuccessfully to prevent a smirk from gracing his face. "My name is Julie, and this is _my_ island! You can't be here! You thieves! You just want to take this away from me!"

"Where's your mommy, Julie?" Draco said, completely ignoring her.

"I don't have a mummy, you meanie!" Julie shouted. "I just have me, and my island, and my Teddy, and that's it! I'm not sharing anyone of those! So get off it, you meanies!"

Draco thanked the gods that Scorpius was never like that, or he might've just thrown his own son out on the streets. He bended down to eye level and held out his hand. The girl looked at it warily.

"Hello, Julie," Draco said smoothly, feeling Scorpius watching them curiously. "My name is Draco, and that's my son, Scorpius. We're not here because we want to be, but we were forced here by some very bad guys." Scorpius snickered. "Will you allow us to stay here? We have nowhere else to go," He put on his saddest face, and Scorpius burst out laughing. Draco turned and glared at his son.

Julie bit her lip and looked down. "I don't know," She said quietly, and much to Draco's pleasure, she had stopped yelling. It appeared that she had started taking pity on them, and while Draco didn't need any pity from four year old girls, he didn't fancy spending the next month getting chased off the island by her either.

"We'll take care of you," Draco promised. "I can be a daddy to you."

It was the wrong thing to stay, as the girl stomped her foot and went back to yelling. "I have a daddy!" She screamed. "I don't need someone to replace him! No one replaces my Teddy!"

"Teddy," Draco mused slightly. "Your daddy is a teddy bear. Right. I won't replace your teddy bear. I'm worth a thousand times it."

Julie stared at him, her mouth wide open. "My daddy is not a teddy bear-"

Scorpius rolled his eyes and said, grinning, "Don't worry, Draco will be your mommy."

Draco glared at his son, but before he could do anything, Julie's eyes lit up and she squealed, "Really? I'll get a mummy again then! Yay!" And she jumped into Draco's arms and hugged him, the man frozen solid in shock. The last time he had been hugged, it had been by a stranger on the street, and five seconds later, he had found his wallet missing.

Scorpius smirked and patted his father on his back. "Have fun with your daughter, _Mum_," He said. "I'll just be inside the tent."

Draco gave him a heated glare. "Scorpius, you are dead."

_Hermione_

"What do you know, it wasn't Malfoy," Hermione sighed, reaching a little cottage at the top of the mountain. It had contained objects from books to clothes to pots and pans, and she knew that Malfoy didn't have any of those. Rose had gone to find a berry bush, and upon inspection, Hermione could tell they weren't poisonous. They gathered some in a little basket that Hermione stole from the cottage, preparing to bring it back for dinner that night. "This cottage is nice, though. It has a bed and everything. There might be someone other than us living here. Maybe we have a ticket off the island."

"I wanna bed!" Rose squealed. "Mummy, let's live here."

Hermione couldn't help but sigh. "I wish we could," Hermione said sadly, staring at the bed. "But the person who lives here might come back. And I don't think they would appreciate us living in their house."

"You got that right, Granger," said a voice behind them. "Fancy meeting you here though. How do you like my house?"

She whirled around to see a very familiar face of a boy she knew, standing there in jeans and a hoodie, a smirk gracing his face. He raised one hand in a wave.

"No way," She muttered, and then met the grinning eyes of Theodore Nott.


	3. Day 2

_Time is distorted. The epilogue never happened in this story. And thank you all for your reviews. I was thinking of ditching this story before, but I guess not anymore._

_And sadly, I don't own anyone but Julie._

Day 2

_Draco_

To say Draco Malfoy felt accomplished was an understatement. He was _extremely_ pleased with himself. It had only been ten hours, fifty minutes and two seconds, and he had already gotten Julie to learn the Malfoy way of living. She no longer pranced around, she swaggered. She didn't squeal, she smirked. Her hair was combed in precise Malfoy precision (the comb came from a few pieces of wood stuck together) and her head was always held high. She was beginning to become the fabulous pouting, stubborn daughter Draco never had.

Of course, in the beginning, he had tried to pry information from her, but she wouldn't budge about most topics. She did let it slip that she was a pureblood, which informed it that yes, she knew about magic, and was actually someone of magical importance. She wouldn't tell him anything about her teddy bear, though, and would only just say stubbornly, "He's _my_ Teddy!" And refuse to say anything else.

There was a slight chance that either she or something else on the island processed a wand. This was evident when Draco, Julie and Scorpius were huddled around the campfire late at night, and Julie was retelling an adventure where she almost fell off a cliff on the island, where her teddy waved around a bit, and she was suddenly _flying_. However, Draco didn't know whether or not to believe her as the subject of the 'teddy' was still iffy; he didn't know what kind of creature 'teddy' was.

Scorpius was treating her a lot nicer than he had treated Rose; during the day, he had received tree climbing lessons from Julie. Draco could tell that seeing how they were on an almost deserted island, with no one but his father and a little four year old girl to watch him, he could let out his fun side without ruining his pride. Draco watched, amused, as the two of them sat on top a banana tree, pretending to be gorillas.

Julie had asked Draco if he wanted to come up and play, and he smirked and said, "No thanks, I'd much rather keep my feet on the ground." Seeing Julie's crestfallen face, he realized his rejection might have been too harsh, and quickly added a lie. "Besides, I'm afraid of heights."

That would be the last time he would ever take pity on her. He would _never_ hear the end of it. Anywhere he went, he could hear her chanting, "Mummy Draco is afraid of heights! Mummy Draco is afraid of heights!"

Scorpius had wisely kept his mouth shut on the matter, as he knew any peep of a taunt and he would never hear the end of his father retelling his adventures as the gorilla. If there was one thing Scorpius cared about, it was his reputation.

_Like father, like son_, Draco thought, amused. He himself had loved games when he was younger, and would play them anytime he could with Goyle and Crabbe in secret. Crabbe, he sighed. Draco had gotten over his death faster than he expected, maybe because of the fact that he mostly used Goyle and Crabbe. Blaise Zabini had quickly filled Crabbe's spot after the war, and for once, Draco enjoyed the friendship of someone who could actually maintain a decent conversation. He was slightly irked when Zabini, who was like a brother to him, married Pansy, who was like a sister to him, but they both helped him with Astoria, so he supposed he couldn't complain too much.

As much as he hated to admit, cold-ice Draco was turning into, well, warm and mushy Draco, as the number of people he cared about increased. At first, it was just his mother, Crabbe and Goyle. And then, Crabbe had to go off and die to his own fiendfyre. Afterwards, Zabini had became closer and closer to him. Two months later, Goyle had decided to move to Africa to help people in need. Draco was thoroughly shocked with that one. After Goyle's surprising reason to leave, Pansy walked back into his life. The major bullet came five years later, though, when he and Astoria had _just_ met each other. His own beloved mother was murdered. It was suspected that Lucius had slipped poison into her tea when he lost interest in her, but it was never proven as he moved away and was never heard from again.

He still heard from Goyle once in awhile, who had met Daphne Greengrass while he was in Africa, and the two of them currently in their honeymoon in Hawaii. It took awhile for Draco to trust Daphne, seeing that she was Astoria's sister, but he trusted Goyle, and he trusted Daphne, so therefore Draco had no choice but to trust her as well. It was Daphne who hinted about Astoria's real attentions, so he felt slightly indebt with her.

Blaise had decided to spend the rest of his life annoying Draco, so he and Pansy had camped out in a tent in front of the Malfoy Manor until Draco was finally fed up with stepping on millions of dungbombs every morning and invited them to stay in his manner. It was too big for him and Scorpius, anyways. And so, for the next few years, Blaise Zabini spent all his free time trashing the Malfoy Manor.

He had even saw Weasel and Scarhead sometimes, before he quit his position at the Ministry. Weasel seemed fine when he left; maybe even happier than Draco had ever seen him. Scarhead was getting all the attention, as always, and blushed and mumbled when someone complimented him which was fairly often. However, though he saw them both, he never saw the remaining third of the Golden Trio. He hadn't seen Granger anywhere, not at work, not even at their Hogwarts class reunion. She was among the three who hadn't attended, the other two including Goyle and Daphne.

Of course, he had never thought of her. Not one chance.

_Hermione_

"Theodore," Hermione said, slightly breathless, her eyes growing two sizes. Rose was biting her lip again, clutching her mother's arm, while Theodore Nott stood in front of them, a casual grin on his face. "Oh my, you're Theodore-"

"Please call me Theo," Theo said pleasantly. "Theodore makes it sound as if I'm actually supposed to be smart or something." He gave Rose a little wink, and she smiled hesitantly back.

"You are smart though!" Hermione argued before she could stop herself. "You were the only one who scored higher on the O.W.L. than I did-"

"Of course you would remember that," Theo smirked. "I can only do Potions. Everything else," He sighed. "Want to come inside?" He caught Hermione looking at him warily. "Come on, do you think I would have to lure a wand-less witch into my house to capture her?"

Hermione hated it, but he did have a point. Besides, if they were stuck on the island, they might as well work together. Out of Draco and Theo, she would definitely choose Theo. Though both had been in Slytherin, she could only recall one or two mudblood jokes coming from him.

"Is that your daughter, Granger?" Theo asked, slightly amused as he bent down and waved at Rose. "Hi, I'm Theo-"

"I know you're Theo," Rose said bluntly. "You said it before."

"Rose!" Hermione exclaimed, shocked. "Don't be rude. Theo's inviting us into his house, you should feel thankful."

Rose bit her lip and looked down, slightly embarrassed. "I'm sowwy, Theo." She said softly. "I'm Rose Weasley. Nice to meet you."

Theo nodded towards her, before giving Hermione a lopsided grin. "Seems like she inherited all your annoying traits, Granger" He said cheekily.

"Hermione," Hermione said automatically, blushing when he looked at her.

"Excuse me?"

"My name," Hermione said, feeling extremely foolish at having to explain. "It's Hermione, not Granger. Of course, if you prefer I call you Nott, then-"

"Nah, it's fine," Theo went to open the front door, and Hermione noted absentmindedly how long his fingers were, as if they were made just to play the piano. "I didn't like Hermione too much anyways. How about I call you, 'Mione?"

"Hermione is fine," Hermione responded hotly, as the door swung open. The house looked even bigger than when they peeked and climbed in through the window. She could see there was two of each object, such as beds, chairs, etc. She made a mental note to ask him about it, but that was promptly forgotten when Rose giggled.

"See?" Theo grinned, amused as he plopped down onto one of the couches. Rose, not wanting to be left behind, did the same as she threw herself onto a red one. Hermione sat down slowly onto one of the wooden chairs. "Your own daughter likes the sound of 'Mione, don't you, Rosie?"

Rose nodded enthusiastically, obviously having gotten over her earlier attitude towards Theo and liked him thoroughly now. "I like that," She said, grinning happily. "And I like Rosie too!"

"You can call her Rosie if she wants," Hermione glared at him. "But if you call me 'Mione, you will die."

"Yes, ma'am," Theo replied cheekily, stretching his body lazily. Rose looked at him, and copied him, and Hermione was suddenly met with the sight of two cat-like-figures sprawled on the couches, one who was obviously failing as she ended up just continuously kicking her legs back and forth.

"So, Theo," Hermione said awkwardly, determined to break the silence. "Why are you here? The island is nice and all, but it wouldn't be my ideal place to live."

"That is why we're not married," Theo said easily, as if they were talking about the weather. Rose had settled to bouncing up and down on the couch, and Hermione was going to tell her to stop, but Theo obviously didn't care too much about the fate of his furniture, so Rose was allowed to continue her fun.

"I'm sure," Hermione said, sighing. "That there are a million other reasons as to why we are not married."

"I wouldn't mind if Mister Theo was my daddy," Rose said excitedly, but quickly shut up when Hermione sent her a glare. "On a second thought, maybe I'll just stick with him being my pretend daddy."

Theo raised his eyebrow, slightly amused, and then turned to Hermione, a serious expression on his face. "I heard about Ron," He said quietly. "I'm sorry."

Hermione blinked, surprised. "Ah-thanks," she said, still trying to comprehend why Theo would bring it up. "How did you hear about it, though? Is there some sort of radio station that links to this island? Or maybe some way off it?" She couldn't help but hear the hopeful tone in her voice.

"What do you think, 'Mione?" Theo snorted, and Hermione decided she was going to abandon all attempts to tell him what to call her. "I haven't only been living on this island. I've just come here, about five years ago." He shrugged nonchalantly. "It was my mother's summer house here. We would come here, just her and me, when we want to get away from everything else, especially the war. That's why you didn't see me at the war." He paused, and looked at her. "You didn't see me, right? If you did, then-"

"Calm down, no one would want to impersonate as you anyways," Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Touché" was her response.

"I did see your father though," Hermione said, and instantly regretted it as the grin slid right off his face and his whole body tensed. "Forget I even said anything. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize for things you don't understand," he muttered, though his voice held no anger. Then, he turned to Rose, who had stopped her tornado of mass destruction, and in a few seconds the grin was back on his face as he leaned back casually and said, "Say, Rosie, there's a lake behind my house. Want to go swimming later?"

"Absolutely not," Hermione said firmly, at the same time Rose said, "Yay, I love swimming!" Rose turned to give her mother her best puppy eyes, but this was one fight Hermione was not about to lose.

"Come on, 'Mione," Theo teased. "You're still that studious bookworm I remember from Hogwarts, but we're no longer students. We can have some fun sometimes, don't you think? You don't even need to go. It'll just be Rosie and me." Theo winked at Rose, who giggled and nodded.

"Rose doesn't have her bathing suit," Hermione pointed out, rolling her eyes at the newly found friendship. "That's one of the millions of problems that we are currently facing."

Theo looked at her, his eyebrow raised, and then he reached one hand into his pocket and pulled something out. Hermione couldn't get a good glimpse of what it was, but Rose, who was leaning over, started squealing.

"It's a stick!" She exclaimed happily. "It's one of those magic sticks mummy has! She waves it around and sparkles and pixie dust flies out! It's so cool. Daddy Theo, you have one too?"

Hermione stared at the both of them, her eyes wide. Theo only grinned back in response. "No way," she muttered. "Theo, you have a wand?"

Theo only responded by taking his black wand out of his pocket, and waved it around. Instantly, one of the teacups on the table turned into a pink, one piece bathing suit and came floating towards Rose, who grabbed it eagerly and hugged it. Hermione's eyes grew to the size of saucers.

"You act like you've never seen magic before, 'Mione," Theo grinned, and then put up his best serious face. "I guess I'll have to explain it to you then. This, my friend, is a wand. It can-"

"I can't believe you're lecturing me on how to use a wand," Hermione groaned and buried her head in between her hands. "You know what? You and Rose go swim and leave me alone. There's only so much of you I can take one day."

"Just think," Theo said, scooping the squealing Rose up and heading outside. "You're stuck with me for the next thirty one days as well."

It occurred to Hermione after Theo and Rose left that she never mentioned to Theo the number of days she was supposed to stay on the island.

_Draco_

"Twinkle twinkle little starrrrrrrrrr," Julie sang happily, as her newly proclaimed 'Mummy Draco' and 'Beetle Brother,' because Scorpius was just too hard for her to pronounce. Draco had sniggered when he recommended it, and while Scorpius glared at his father, he could do nothing to stop Julie, who was ready to accept any ideas her new 'family' offered. Draco found out that the girl didn't have that bad of a voice, unlike certain mudbloods that sang like ducks.

Julie stopped abruptly, and Draco snapped out of his thoughts to stare at her, only to find Scorpius looking at him in amazement. He wondered what he could've possibly done when Julie piped, "Mummy Draco, what's a mudblood?"

Yep, life definitely couldn't get any worse.


	4. Day 3

_Are my chapters too short and dopey? Tell me if they are; heck, even I think they are when I go back and reread it, though I'm too lazy to change anything. Any grammatical mistakes I'll be happy to change. Read, add it to your subscribing/favorite list, etc., but please please please please review. They make my day. I swear, the sun shines a little bright over here every time I see a new review, even if it's full of flames._

_Poll of the chapter/week/month (?); on a scale from one to five, how would you rate Julie? One is 'very annoying, she would be my archenemies if I ever met her in real life;' Five is 'I love her, she would totally be my best friend/daughter/sister if she existed.' Magical unicorn shaped chocolate for all people who answer. You know you want it._

**Day 3**

_Hermione_

"Hey, Theo," Hermione muttered sleepily, the three of them sprawled in Theo's living room, taking a slight afternoon nap. She and Rose had spent the morning moving their belongings (which wasn't really anything) into Theo's house as he told them he had one bedroom too many anyways. "You know that Malfoy is here with us, right?"

"Malfoy?" Theo raised his eyebrow, patting the sleepy Rose who was using his lap as a pillow. "Malfoy, as in Drake?"

"Yeah, Draco. How many other Malfoy's do you know? I thought Narcissa was dead, and Lucius was missing." Hermione nodded, and having stolen Theo's knitting material (she hadn't asked), she had begun knitting a new sweater for Rose. Theo had transfigured more furniture into clothing, but had refused to let her borrow it. _For all I know, you could want to secretly murder me. Why would I make that easier for you?_ He had replied cheekily, and Hermione didn't even dignify a response. "And his son, Scorpius, is with him too."

"Aw, Scor, I remember that kid," Theo grinned, plopping a grape into his mouth from the fruit bowl that sat next to him. "The little squirt, he was such a cute child too. I'm not supposed to tell anyone, but he has a special spot for cats."

"For cats," Hermione repeated plainly, raising an eyebrow. When Theo didn't elaborate, she pressed on further. "Why in the Merlin would someone who's destined to be in Slytherin, and the latest Malfoy heir, for that matter, have something for _cats_?"

"Scor has many fetishes," Theo replied easily, stretching lazily. "Though he might not admit it sometimes. You just have to look hard enough. He rarely has any interactions with human beings, though, except with his family." He shrugged. "He hates me too, after what I told him about dementors." He gave Hermione a sideways look. "Yeah, he likes dementors too."

"Dementors and cats," Hermione replied thoughtfully. "Can't say I've seen a stranger combination, but I guess it works, though what he sees in dementors is beyond me. They're all dark, and gloomy."

"He thinks the concept of it is cool, but you should've seen him run when he saw one a couple years ago after a Quidditch match. I didn't know that little squirt had it in him to run that fast. His legs are short compared to Drake's. Probably got them from Astoria." Theo gave a short laugh, which sounded like a snort. "I think he'd love them better if they were mythical creatures instead."

Hermione nodded, unsure of what to say. While she herself had never been as affected of dementors as Harry had, they still irked her to no end. After the incident during the end of their third year, she had learned to produce a Patronus Charm as soon as she possibly could, and the dementors no longer had an effect on her. Still, she thought of all those people who they still did have an effect on, and all that happiness sucked away. She couldn't understand why those things weren't banned. Azkaban or not, they were dangerous.

"Don't judge him too much on that though," Theo gave a shrug. "He's just ten, only two years older than Rosie here," He grinned fondly at the sleeping girl. "He's bound to change interests soon, as is Rosie. And creatures, such as cats and dementors, are all the poor kid can turn to, anyways. He talks to cats sometimes, you know?" He gave her a wicked grin. "Anyways, there haven't been much people in his life he truly cares about, or have been given the opportunity to know him, anyways. Scor has this problem. He unleashes his evilest tricks, mostly bullying, and if the person lives through it, he decides the person is worthy to be his friend. Of course, this only happens when he first evaluates if he wants to be associated with you."

"Which explains why he went up to Rose's sand castle and kicked it," Hermione gasped softly. "Oh, I thought it was either something about the age different or if it was just some prejudice that Malfo-Draco had taught him over the years."

"Rosie's caught his eye already, hasn't she?" Theo chuckled. "Little angel, that's what she is. You never know, you might find Rosie and Scor become best friends over the course of the next few weeks." He laughed when Hermione gaped at him. "Come on, 'Mione, have a little imagination. And about what you were saying with Drake, you'd find that he's actually changed quite a bit over the years. He doesn't hold anything against Muggleborns anymore."

"I could've sworn he called me mudblood when we first met at the front of the island." Hermione muttered. "In front of Rose, too. She spent the rest of the morning pestering about what it was until I finally got fed up with her and gave her the silent treatment."

"Poor Rosie," Theo laughed, and Hermione found that for every statement, Theo had to follow it with some form of amusement, whether it was chuckling and grinning. "Anyways, he's just trying to provoke you. It's his warped way of trying to apologize and getting you to make up with him for all the fights you've had at Hogwarts. If I may say so myself, I think he's missed being around you."

"Missed being around me?" Hermione stared at him incredulously. "Even if we get over the whole prejudice issue, what could I have possibly shared with Malfoy back at Hogwarts that would make him miss me, the goodie-goodie-know-it-all?"

"That's precisely why," Theo chirped happily. "He's missed you competing with him to the top. As much as he doesn't want to admit it, even though he lost a majority of times, he rather have that than winning all these times against people who aren't even close to his level. It's the feeling of winning once in awhile that feels exhilarating, you know?"

"Maybe that's true for most people," Hermione countered. "But he's _Draco Malfoy_, for Merlin's sake! Can you imagine him purposely losing anything? You didn't see how much time he took trying to bribe the teacher the first time I beat him in charms by 0.5 of a point. Not that I'm saying you're lying, but I seriously doubt that is the case."

"You'll see," was Theo's response.

"How do you know so much about the Malfoy family anyways?" Hermione asked suspiciously, looking at him sideways. "Are you a secret ninja spy in disguise trying to steal all their money or something?"

"No, that wouldn't work out that well anyways." Theo laughed. "Just look at Astoria. Though the image of me being a ninja isn't all that bad either." He sighed thoughtfully. "Can you see it? Fifty years from now, all you old people will be handling your poor back, while I'll be dressed in black, whizzing around with special moves-"

"Theo." Hermione said calmly, picking up her weaving again. "As much as the image of your head placed on top of ninja clothes amuses me, you're skirting around my question."

"Whatever you say, ma'am. You know it'll look good on me. Anything will." Theo replied cheekily. "I suppose there are lots of reasons why I know plenty on the Malfoy family, but probably the one you would want to hear the most is that I'm Scorpius's Godfather."

_Draco_

"Julie," Draco sighed exhaustedly. "You know I…care about you, but may I ask, why are we going swimming in mud puddle behind someone's house?"

"Forget why we're doing it," Scorpius said bluntly. "If there's a perfectly good house here, why don't we live here? Unless, of course, you got that thing with the tent, Father," He smirked.

"Har har har," Draco rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Very amusing, Scorpius, but completely not funny. Try again. Don't worry, we're stuck in this place for eons anyways. Maybe it'll work for you the second time around. I wouldn't be too confident about that, though."

It was Scorpius's turn to scowl at his father, and Julie, not wanting to be left out, stomped her left foot down on the ground hard, laying down the law. Draco had discovered her face was rather cute when she puffed up her cheeks and her eyes took a determined glint; she just reeked _Malfoy_ with it.

"Okay, okay," Draco held up his hands in defeat. "You've got my undivided attention. Are you going to answer my question, Julie? Or are you just going to keep me waiting?"

Julie put her hands on her hips and pouted. "If you would stop interrupting me before I can even start to answer, then maybe I would," She ranted bossily. "But since you didn't let me finish, then maybe I won't tell you. So hah!" She stuck her tongue out.

"Hate to ruin your fun, but you can't interrupt someone who hasn't even started," Scorpius pointed out, grinning. The helpful criticism wasn't appreciated though, as Julie turned around and gave him a full-blast of a Julie-glare that could burn down the empire state building itself. Even Scorpius, who was usually calm and collected cowered back slightly.

"Scorpius, stop being a twat and be a gentleman to Julie," Draco sighed. "Yes, I did say twat, Julie, stop looking at me weirdly. Are you going to tell me yourself, or are you going to force me to go inside the house myself to investigate?"

"I _suppose_ I have to tell you," Julie said, but Draco could tell that she was rather excited to, like someone who was about to share a forbidden secret. He himself had never been good at keeping them before anyways, and any secret he got he shared as quickly as he could to Goyle and Crabbe, or later, Zabini. He had a feeling that if he could lend Julie five minutes of his devoted attention, she would spill all her secrets to him. "That isn't a mud puddle! It's a pool. Mud puddles are icky." She paused, and looked questionably at Draco. "Is a mud puddle the same thing as a Mudblood?"

Scorpius coughed in what seemed like an attempt to cover a snicker, and Draco caught the words, "Now look what you've done, Father." That was said under his breath. Julie, however, seemed clueless as she stared back at the two of them with her big eyes.

"Julie, I never want to hear that word coming through your lips again," Draco said, raking a hand through his hand. "If I do, you will be in a lot of trouble. Do you understand?"

Julie's lip trembled slightly, and she lowered her eyes down towards the ground. "I'm sorry. Did Julie do something wrong? Is Mummy Draco angry at Julie?" Draco was startled to see little tears fall from her face, splattering onto the ground below.

Scorpius was glaring at him, making crazy hand-motions from him to Julie, all of them ending in his two hands coming together to form a heart. Draco looked at him confused for a few seconds, when he finally got it, and sent Scorpius an _are-you-crazy_ look. Apparently so, as Scorpius just nudged his head towards Julie, and Draco had no choice but to take orders from his own son.

He bent down to Julie's height, which wasn't really tall compared to his figure, and said in the smoothest voice he could muster, "I'm not mad at you," He replied honestly. "It's just that the word is bad for you, and I don't want Julie getting in any trouble because of it. Many people before have gotten into a lot of trouble for saying that word. Do you understand?" Hesitantly, he reached out and hugged her, and was somewhat relieved when she hugged back, before quickly pulling away.

Julie's eyes met his, the rims still stained with teardrops. "I understand, Mummy Draco." She nodded, biting her lower lip anxiously. "But by many people, do you mean yourself?"

That did it; the moment was completely ruined. Draco's expression automatically turned into a scowl, and Scorpius grinned gleefully. Julie hiccupped softly, and wiped her tears and snot with the sleeve of her sweater, not noting how the air turned thicker and noticeably tenser.

"Just answer my question, Julie," Draco bit out, harsher than he intended, and Julie cowered back fearfully. "We've spent ten minutes here, and we've made no progress."

"Father," Scorpius interrupted, his face etched with worry, something that was unusual for him. "Don't you think you're pushing her too hard? I don't think she meant what she said." To help prove his point, Julie shook her head quickly, her blond curls flying back and forth.

"All I want is this world," Draco moaned, burying his face in his hands. "Is to receive a proper answer when I ask a question. Is that so hard to ask?"

"I doubt that, Mister Old Meanie!" A voice behind him said angrily, causing Draco to freeze for a few seconds, and then spin around. "There's a lot of other things you want. Why would you only want an answer, anyways? Wouldn't you want riches and power and _food_?"

"You're Lily, aren't you?" Draco responded, dazed, watching Julie taking a defensive stance against the redheaded girl. "That flower girl."

_Author's Note: Quote for the human brain (aka keep this in mind); things are never as they seem. _


	5. Day 4

_I don't own Harry Potter. Sadly, I don't even own Theo's nicknames._

_The first part is a continued part from last chapter, but since each chapter is a new day, it was made a flashback._

**The day before**

"_You're Lily, aren't you?" Draco responded, dazed, watching Julie taking a defensive stance against the redheaded girl. "That flower girl." _

"_I'm not Lily!" The girl yelled, and Julie had jumped in front of Draco, barring her teeth. Scorpius had shifted slightly so he was in between Julie and the girl, while Draco himself was tilting his head sideways, trying not to snicker loudly. "I'm Rose! Get it right! Lily's my cousin!" She stomped down her foot, much like Julie did earlier. "I know your name, Mr. Old Meanie, so you have to know mine!"_

"_Don't you yell at my Mummy Draco!" Julie screamed back, her arms flying back and forth, her usually composed face red and puffy. "You have no right, you ugly-ugly-pig!"_

"_Don't call me a pig!" Rose screeched, her wild, untamed hair making her look even more terrifying. "You are what you call people, you porcupine!"_

"_It's 'you are what you eat,' Scorpius volunteered helpfully, only to find Rose's sandal fly towards his face, which barely missed his face by a few inches. "Whoa, girl, are you a chaser? Your throw is wicked, not as good as mine, of course."_

"_I'm better than you, and you know it!" Rose proclaimed proudly. "And who wants to be a chaser, anyways? Quaffles are for losers. I'm going to be a seeker, of course." Her face lit up. "Like, Uncle Harry! Uncle Harry was ten times the seeker as Mr. Old Meanie!" To prove her point, she stuck her tongue out._

"_I'm sure Weasel will be happy to find out that his own daughter followed his best friend's footstep instead of his own," Draco said calmly, ignoring her jabs, not dignifying a response. "Maybe you'll follow Granger's footsteps one day…I forgot, you already have. Rat nest hair, book worm, yep, it's all there."_

_Julie giggled and it was Rose's turn to glare. "You don't know what you're talking about," She held her head up high. "Mummy is so much more talented and beautiful than you will be. You're just jealous!"_

"_Mummy Draco can't be smarter than himself!" Julie argued back. "You make no sense!"_

"_Mr. Old Meanie is not my mummy!" Rose hollered back._

"_You wish he was!"_

"_Nuh uh, why would I want him as my mummy? He's ugly!"_

"_Let's see your mummy then!"_

"_My mummy's too beautiful for your porcupine eyes! One look and you'll dissolve into ashes!"_

"_You're mummy is so ugly she walked into Gap and filled the whole store!"_

"_Don't you tell me 'your mummy' jokes! And if you're going to do it, tell it right! It's fat, not ugly!"_

"_Since I think she's ugly, and you think she's fat, she's both!"_

"_I NEVER SAID MY MUMMY WAS FAT."_

"_YOU IMPLIED IT, SO THEREFORE YOU SAID IT."_

"_You're the person who goes around calling a man your mummy!"_

"_What's wrong with that?"_

"_It's wrong!"_

"_Nuh uh!"_

"_Uh huh!"_

"_NO."_

"_YES."_

"_You're fat, you know that?"_

"_You're ugly, you know that?"_

"_You wish you were as pretty as me."_

"_I don't need to dream about people below me!"_

"_You'd be five miles on top of me if the world was flipped upside down!"_

"_PRICK."_

"_GIT."_

"_FERRET."_

"_MUDBLOOD."_

"_MUMMY!" Rose hollered on the top of her longs, snapping Draco and Scorpius out of their daze, and Draco shook his head disapprovingly at Julie, who didn't seem to care as she crossed her hands in front of her chest and glared. Clearly, she took it as her duty to protect Draco's 'reputation' and the first thing on that agenda was to squash bugs such as Rose. "Mummy, she called me a bad word!"_

"_For Merlin's sake, I can hear you two go on all the way inside the house," A wary looking Hermione stepped out of the house, much to Draco's amazement and envy, and her hair was freshly washed and she wore new clothes. "Can't someone who's tired get some sleep once in awhile? And Malfoy-control your…adopted daughter." She suddenly snickered. "I heard from inside. Isn't that sweet, who knew you were going to be a mummy?"_

_Draco scowled. "Stop teaching your daughter things, and maybe they would get along better. Julie here didn't do anything wrong." He patted her shoulder, and she beamed up proudly at him._

"_She said the m-word, and that is bad enough for me," Hermione replied calmly, as Rose ran to hide behind her legs, sticking her head around to glare at Julie. "Prick and ferret are hardly insults; in fact, they're both true in this case. I advice you to man-up a bit and learn to face the truth, though I'm sure it's downright hard for such a scaredy-cat like you, Malfoy."_

"_They weren't even directed towards me," Draco snarled. "And you're just jealous you can't go around insulting people by calling them pure-blood. I think that would work out the complete opposite, don't you?"_

"_Shut up, Malfoy, or I will shut you up for you."_

"_Is that implying anything, Granger?"_

"_It's implying I will shove your son down your throat and make you gag on your own spit."_

"_I highly doubt you can lift Scorpius with the muscles that you have. I, on the other hand-"_

"_I learned from Harry and Ron, as known as the absolute best. You, on the other hand, learned from Marcus Flint. Huge difference in coaches."_

"_Are you saying you can fly better than I can?"_

"_So what if I am saying that? What are you going to do about it?"_

"_First of all, it's well known you're afraid of heights. Second, you're overpowered here three to two, Granger. I wouldn't recommend taunting me. Who knows what might happen to you."_

_Hermione simply stared at him, and for a split second, it was all silent, and then Draco broke it by saying, "What happened, cat got your tongue?" _

"_Make that three to three," A calm, cheeky voice said behind him, and Draco whirled around to see his best friend, standing with his hands in his pockets, a grin on his face, and his shagging blonde hair in his eyes._

"_Wha—THEO?" Draco could be positive that his eyes were bugging out of his head. Scorpius stood there curiously evaluating him; he had never heard of his father being friends with anyone other than Crabbe, Goyle, Blaise and Pansy. _

_Julie squealed and jumped into his arms, and Draco slightly envied her for being able to do what he couldn't do. Theo patted her slightly, and gave a slight nod to Hermione, who stuck her tongue back. Whoa, when did the two of them get that close? Rose had crossed her arms in front of her chest, and she was glaring at Julie._

"_Hey Drake," Theo gave a small wave the best he could while supporting Julie's weight. "It's been a long time hasn't it? Time sure flies when you're having fun."_

"_Long time?" Draco sputtered, trying hard but unable to keep his calm personality. "Is that all you have to say to me, Theo? I thought you were dead! You made me think as if though I killed you!'_

_Hermione was looking at the two of them slightly confused. While she and Theo hadn't talked that much, he hadn't mentioned anything about his relationship with Draco. Come to think of it, he had never told her why he ended up on the island in the first place. And while Draco was looking as though he saw a pink Voldemort dancing in front of him, Theo was still as calm as ever, standing there, holding what looked to be _his_ daughter, and grinning._

"_I forgot to tell you before I left," Theo responded. "That I can swim. Very well, actually. I've been on the swim team for years. My parents disproved, of course, with all that 'you can't go join a Muggle swim team' shiz, but I did anyways, and look, it saved my life."_

_Draco stared at him in disbelief, before sinking to the ground, letting out a sigh. Questions came from all different people._

"_What's going on here?" -Hermione_

"_WHY IS THAT PORCUPINE HUGGING YOU, DADDY THEO?" -Rose_

"_Father, did you die? You can't die yet! I'm not ready to take over the Malfoy inheritance! I don't have the skills to take all the money and be mean to house elves all day; that's your job! I've only scored a seventy out of seventy one on the test 'how to abuse house elves.' You at least have to stay until I get that one point." -Scorpius_

"_Drake's not dead," Theo mused. "I don't think it's that easy to kill him. He's like…a cockroach. Why don't you children run off, and I have a small talk with your parents?" He gave a small pat to Julie, and she reluctantly slid down. "And as to why, Rose, it's because Julie is my daughter._

**Day 4**

"Julie's really your daughter then," Hermione giggled as she, Draco and Theo sat in his living room the next morning. They had told the kids to run off and play near the beach, and if they caught any sign of fighting, they would be locked up in a room for the remainder of the vacation. Julie and Rose were still fighting over Theo, both refusing to give him up, yet the two of them didn't want to think of each other as sisters, either. "That means that you and Malfoy are married,"

"That's gross," Draco said. "No wonder why Jules kept bringing up 'Teddy,' that was you, wasn't it? I thought she was referring to a damn teddy bear. You did it to mock me."

"Now, Drake, how would I know that you would come along and start acting like a Mum?" Theo replied cheekily. "And I can't help I'm popular with the kids, can I? According to Rose, I'm married to you too, 'Mione," He grinned at her, and she blushed slightly. "So, go on, both of you. Start fighting over me."

"You wish," Draco muttered darkly, sending a glare over to his friend.

"So we shall start," Hermione interrupted, clearing her throat loudly. "I want to know the details. All of them. Theo, are you going to tell me?"

"Alright then, Miss bossy face," Draco muttered under his breath, and received a well-placed kick from Hermione. He clutched his leg and glared at her.

"Now, Drake, no need to be a sore loser," came Theo's reply. "But yes, I can tell you about that. Where do you want me to start?"

"How about the beginning?" Hermione suggested. "To help awkward-feeling outsiders into the situation. Because I sure don't know what Malfoy is going about right now."

"Hm, let's see," Theo tapped his chin. "Did Drake tell you about Tori?"

Hermione blinked. "Who?"

Draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "He's talking about Astoria. Theo has a weird think with nicknames. A fetish, one would call it."

Hermione looked surprised. "Ah, okay." She said. "Yeah, Malfoy did tell me a little about her. Mainly just the fact that he killed her."

Theo chuckled. "I see you're still a little sour about what he did." He said. "He did tell you what Tori did as well, did he? Drake has a tendency to leave out other people's misdeeds, and seemingly blaming the whole thing on himself. He likes playing the role of the villain."

Hermione's mouth dropped open and she turned to stare at Draco, who was looking indifferent. Why would Malfoy want to blame something on himself? She would think that he would've tried to free himself from all responsibilities.

"Close your mouth, Granger," Draco said, his mouth curling up slightly. "I know I'm handsome, and it took you long enough to figure it out, but I don't appreciate people gaping at me."

"One would've thought you'd enjoy the attention," Hermione shot back, and then mentally slapped herself for not disproving what Draco said. His smirk grew wider, and Theo laughed.

"You two are like an old married couple," He said, and had to duck quickly as the two of them launched pillows at his head, both of them blushing slightly. "Come on, I was just kidding. No need to take things so seriously. But based on your reactions…" He waggled his eyebrows.

"Back to the matter at hand," Hermione sighed, scooting away from Draco and watching him do the same. Theo was regarding the situation with an amused smile on his face. "So, what about Astoria and Malfoy?"

"To make things simple," Theo said. "I got in Tori's way, and she decided that I was best to be disposed of, so she chucked me in an ocean. I ended up swimming here. This island was _nothing_ like this when I came here. So you can all thank me for not arriving on a wasteland." He grinned.

"Thank you, your Royal Highness," Hermione grumbled. "When did you become so humble?"

"Anyways, I fixed this island up a bit, and started growing my own banana trees," Here, he received a glare from Draco. "And built my own house, cleaned this place up, and was deciding how I could live if I had to spent the rest of my life on the island. And that's when Potty, Gin, Pans and Blaise found me."

"Potty," Draco snorted. "Very original. Stealing my nickname now, are you? You couldn't call him Hairy or something?"

Hermione ignored him. "You have no nickname for Blaise?" She inquired, surprised. "Though it is kind of hard to make a nickname for that _or_ Zabini."

"You should've heard the time when he went around calling him Blaisy." Draco grinned. "It drove Zabini nuts. I think Theo's always wanted us to be Drakey, Blaisy and Teddy." Here, he scowled at his grinning best friend. "I have no idea what goes on in his head, nor do I ever want to find out."

"I'll call him Blaisy for now then, for convenience sake," Theo stated happily, and Draco muttered under his breath, _"Zabini's going to kill you when he gets his hands on you, Granger,"_ "So, Potty, Gin, Pans and Blaisy found me holed up on this island, and they brought me back. That's where I met Julie, and the two of decided we should escape from the world and come live here. I received an owl from Potty, Gin, Pans and Blaisy about two weeks ago asking if the two of you could be dumped here. I agreed, and wala, here we are."

"Dumped here," Draco said angrily. "Like some disgusting trash. Who do they think they are?"

"Shush, Malfoy," Hermione waved him off. "Wait, you said you met Julie when you returned back to the island. So she isn't your daughter?"

Theo's grin slid off his face as he seemed to realize his mistake. She didn't want to push him, but if they were going to have to be stuck on the island, they couldn't really keep any secrets from each other, could they? She would be willing to share anything with Theo, and maybe keep a little bit from Malfoy, but that was understandable given their situation, right? She couldn't just forget all those years of tormenting that he gave her.

"No, Julie is my daughter," Theo said seriously.

"Who's the Mum?" Hermione asked rather softly, looking Theo in the eye. He locked eyes with her, and then with Draco, and a thoughtful expression crossed his face, like he was debating whether or not to tell them.

Theo looked up finally, and said, "Actually, Julie's mother is my own mother."


	6. Day 5

_Disclaimer: One would think I would have something better to do with my time if I owned Harry Potter. Preferably several vacations. God knows I need one. Happy Rosh Hashanah!_

**Day 5**

_Hermione_

Theo's words still rang in her mind even as she woke up the next morning.

_Julie's mother is my own mother. Julie's mother is my own mother._

Hermione felt sick in the stomach just thinking about it. Theo hadn't explained and frankly, she hadn't wanted him to. Hermione felt awful after she had asked the question and received such an answer, and it seemed as Malfoy couldn't muster anything up either; he had remained silent. Theo had gone off to "prepare tea," as he called it, and while he was in his kitchen, she and Malfoy and excused themselves, saying they were going to check up on the kids. Theo had let them go without a protest, so Hermione guessed she must've triggered some memories.

Malfoy gave her the exact punishment she deserved by ignoring her, and instead going over to where Julie was playing happily with Scorpius, and told her not to disturb Theo. What Julie said afterwards Hermione did not hear; she was busy noticing how Rose was playing by herself on the other side. Nobody in this world deserved anything they got, not Rose, not Theo, not even Malfoy. And there she was, Hermione Granger, part of the Golden Trio, and she probably had the least amount of problems of everyone there, and yet she still walked around ruining other people's lives. She was ashamed of herself.

Rose had done the best to cheer her mummy up, but she didn't know about the situation, and she was still a little girl, so all she had managed was a small weak smile from her mum before Hermione locked herself in her room. The two of them had went back to their old little shack, Rose wisely not making any comment on it. They dusted up slightly, found some berries and bananas, and had their own little dinner. Rose fell asleep quickly, and Hermione was left with only the company of the crackling fire to tell her guilt to.

Hermione spent the whole night thinking, and when Rose woke up the next morning, she was upset by the fact her mum's attitude had not only not gotten better, it had gotten worse. Stomping furiously, she left the shack after eating her breakfast, and Hermione let her; she didn't know what other mean things she would say to her daughter if she remained there.

That was why Hermione sat in the shack quietly for the remainder of the day, seeing the sun rise and leave. She picked up some rocks and threw them at the wall occasionally, cursing profusely. After the crickets started chirping and the temperature started dropping did Hermione have a real breakdown, and curled herself into a ball, crying. She had no right to cry, and she knew that, but yet she just couldn't stop the tears flowing down her face.

Her sobs increasingly got louder, and she didn't hear it when the door opened and creaked, or the fact that someone came in. She didn't even notice when the person sat down on the cot she was laying in, and was only aware that she wasn't alone when she felt a hand on her back. She must've jumped five feet in terror, and scampered away from the hand, until she realized through her tear-stained eyes that it was Malfoy, looking as if he were trying not to laugh.

"Geez, Granger, you still haven't changed at all." Draco smirked. "Remember that time in first year when I sneaked up on because you were crying that neither Pothead or Weasel liked you? You had the _exact_ same reaction. Good to know you're still the bushy head know-it-all."

"Malfoy," She snarled, terribly impolite but she was humiliated on being discovered in such a state, by _Malfoy_, no less. "What are you doing here? Don't you have better things to do with your time than to make fun of mudbloods? I thought you grew up."

Draco winced slightly, and gave Hermione a grave look. "For someone who keeps insisting mudblood is a bad word, you sure use that on yourself often." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair; his signature move. "I thought Theo explained to you already. Knowing him, it would've been the first thing that he told you."

"Told me what?" Hermione hiccupped. "Told me that you suck and should go far, far away from a damsel in distress?"

Draco snorted. "You are the last person I will ever associate with a damsel," He stated bluntly, and Hermione glared at him. "Though a gentleman would _never_ leave a crying girl all by herself, damsel or not." He smirked.

"You are the last person I will ever associate with a gentleman," Hermione mimicked, and Draco scowled at her. "I think you meant to say, mudblood or not."

Draco stared at her coldly. "No, I'm sure I was right the first time. I'm a Malfoy, Granger. We are never wrong. I thought Theo told you already; I'm not as prejudiced as I used to be."

"Actually, Theo said you weren't prejudiced at all," Hermione informed him. "But clearly, he was wrong, as you've had no trouble calling me a Mudblood for the past few days."

"You weren't making it any easier for me," Draco shot back. "I don't hold anything against Mudbloods, not you, not anyone of them. And they shouldn't hold anything against me either. I haven't done anything wrong to them, and I've already apologized."

"You think you can get away with everything just because you apologized?" Hermione rasped. "First of all, not everyone has forgiven you _or_ your family for everything you've done, and second, apologizing didn't stop you from still going around calling me a Mudblood."

"You are a Mudblood. Why can't I call you by that?" Draco pointed out, and if looks could kill, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy would have been found dead in the little shack. "It's a status, Granger. Not the best, but it still is. No need to get so defensive over it. It's not like it'll kill you or something. I much rather face the fact that I'm being called a Mudblood than any one of the Unforgivables."

"I highly doubt that, _Malfoy_," Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, status, is it? I'll go around calling you Ferret, see how you feel about that. You are the most insensitive jerk on this planet!" Hermione lowered her voice and mimicked Draco. "_Oh, I'm a Malfoy. Yeah, you, Mudblood, you're trash. You don't even have the right to talk to me. I would much rather die than be touched by you."_ To emphasize her point, she held her head high in the air, sticking up her nose.

"What the hell, Granger," Draco's eyes blazed with anger. "Why is it so difficult for you to think I've changed?"

"Because you've never given me a reason to!" Hermione shot back.

"And why me? Have you thought about yourself? What reason have _you_ given me to prove that you've changed? How do I know you've changed from the annoying know-it-all chit who does nothing but annoy people's butts off by lecturing all day and blurting out the first thing that comes to her mind?" Draco rambled on. "I know I've hurt you, but I'm pretty sure all the things you've done to me are a lot worse!"

Hermione took a deep breath, and for a second, Draco thought he was going to be in for the yelling of his life, and braced himself. He was surprised, however, when Hermione buried her head in between her knees.

"You're right," He could hear her mumble. "I haven't change; I still continue to say whatever I want to say and hurt people along the way just to get what I want. I'm just a stubborn little kid. I don't deserve to live, to have a beautiful daughter, and to lead a happy life. I didn't even deserve Ron. You're right, Malfoy, like you always are. You've proved your point. I hope you're happy now."

Draco swore loudly, but Hermione paid him no mind. He couldn't do this; he'd much rather her yell at him. He could never deal with crying women. The only woman he had ever really seen cry was his mother, and he would always slip away into the big mansion until she calmed down, and he would try the best he could to cheer her up. He couldn't just leave Hermione by herself though; though he didn't know much, her earlier statement sounded very much like a suicidal thought to him.

"Hey Hermione," He said gently, and reached out to pat her. He stopped halfway, though, because he was unsure whether or not she wanted to be touched. "I'm sorry, okay? I was just joking…no, that sounds wrong. I just got twirled up into the moment, and _I_ blurted out the first thing that came to my head. I guess old habits die hard, huh," He offered a small smile, though he knew she couldn't see it. "I will always let my temper get in the way."

"Youf cwalled meph watg." Came her muffled reply.

Draco looked at her puzzled. "What did you say?"

"I said," Hermione lifted her head slightly, and Draco was amazed that she cleaned herself up so quickly; her slightly red eyes were the only indication that she had been crying. "What did you call me?"

"That's all you have to say?" Draco replied, trying to calm himself down. He couldn't let his temper act again. "I called you Granger. What else do you want me to call you? I thought you made it quite clear that you didn't want me calling you Mudblood."

"You didn't call me Granger. You called me Hermione."

"Did I?" Draco tried to appear disinterested, but he was mentally cursing himself for his little slipup. "If you already knew the answer, why would you ask?"

"I wanted to hear it from you, I guess," Hermione shrugged. "I didn't know we were on first name basis, though. Hm, it's actually not a bad idea, _Drakie._" She smirked.

"I accidently slipped and called you Hermione, it does not mean we give each other nicknames now," He glared at her. "I'm not as accepting as people like Theo on something like this. I prefer we stick with our first names."

Hermione giggled, and Draco had to admit it _did_ evolve into something nice, like the rest of her body. Her hair was more tamed now, and her usually dull eyes and turned lively. Maybe she grew up more than he gave her credit for. "You let _Julie_ call you Drakie." She pointed out.

"Last time I checked, you weren't Julie," Draco gritted his teeth. "Just like I'm not Rose, and I don't go around calling you Mummy."

"What you wanted to say," Hermione interrupted. "Is that because Julie is a pureblood, she deserves more rights than me. Am I right?"

"Granger, did you not hear anything I said before?" Draco asked furiously. "Are you an idiot? I already told you I've been trying to-" He paused, staring in amazement because Hermione had rolled over, laughing. He realized that she had _wanted_ to see his reaction. Taking a deep breath, he waited until she calmed down.

"Geez, Malfoy," Hermione felt her eyes water from laughing so much. "Lighten up, you don't have to be so defensive all the time. We're on an island, there's no one else. You might as well have some fun here. Don't be so proper; it can't be good for your health."

What irked Draco the most was the fact that had this situation occurred back in their school years, it would have been _him_ saying this to her. He sighed and leaned back to wait as Hermione carefully composed herself.

"Hey, 'Mione, it's been a day already, you might as well come out-" The door flew open and Theo barged in, his worried look quickly replaced by a smirk. "Well, well, well, Drake, when you said that you were going to go get some bananas, you didn't say you included 'Mione in your plan," He wiggled his eyebrows.

Draco looked at their environment. They both sat on the same bed, the sheets were ruffled, and Hermione was currently buttoning the buttons on her shirt sleeve that accidently popped up when she had rolled around. Both of their faces immediately heated up. "Theo, it's not what you think it is." Draco said.

"You have no idea how many times I've heard that," Theo responded with a grin. "And if that really is the truth, why do you two look so guilty? You're blushing so much, you both look like tomatoes. Don't worry; I'll go ruin Rosie's little dream about how I'm going to end up being her Daddy, and tell Julie that Mummy Drakie has decided to divorce me,"

"Theo, you better shut up right now," Draco warned him, as it seemed that Hermione was still too embarrassed to speak. "We were just talking."

"That's what they all say," Theo sighed. "It all starts with talking, doesn't it? And then it just progresses _so fast._" He dodged a pillow that Hermione threw at him, and held his hands up in defeat. "I'm kidding, no need to get so defensive. I'll just be waiting outside, so…_compose_ yourselves." He snickered, tossed the pillow back, and left.

The two of them awkwardly shuffled around; Draco quickly standing up and stood there pondering if he should wait for her or not. Hermione had went to make her bed.

"So, Granger," Draco drawled, the same time that Hermione said, "Hey, Malfoy?"

They looked at each other. "You first," Draco said.

"We agree this never happened, right?" Hermione asked. "You just went to get your…_bananas_, and you came in to torture me. That's all. And I thought you hated bananas."

"I do hate bananas," He informed her. "And I agree. Act natural, Granger, don't be all high and mighty. I've seen when you used to 'try to keep a secret.' You acted like you were drunk."

"Whatever," Hermione snorted, and opened the door. "I'll be seeing you around, Malfoy, I got a daughter to check up on, and a friend to apologize to. Meanwhile, your bananas awaits."

Draco scowled, and left without another word.

The two didn't speak for the rest of the evenings, their paths not crossing until they both ran into Theo who invited them to stay in his cottage again. However, even the kids noticed how the tension between the two eased down, and nobody missed how they gave each other small smiles before they went into their own rooms.


	7. Day 6

_Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. I've been busy with real life and whatnot. I hope this chapter meets up to your standards, as I typed it up quickly._

**Day 6**

"Theo, I-" For once, Draco was speechless, Hermione mused, amused. He was staring, his mouth wide open, at the pink pieces of clothes displayed on the floor. The kids were squirming excitedly on the couches, and Theo was kneeling in front of a giant trunk, grinning. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw a crackling fire. She had never noticed the living room there before.  
>"Hey, you came," Theo greeted cheerfully, either oblivious or purposely ignoring Draco's bewildered face. "Consider this a welcome greeting. We always do this for our new neighbors, and since there's so many of us right now, it'll be extra fun."<p>

"New neighbors?" Hermione asked curiously, cutting in before Draco could regain his senses. "You've had other people on this island before us? Who, and did they leave?"

"They were insignificant people." Julie stated, holding her nose high in the air.

"Mummy said no one is insignificant!" Rose argued back. "Not Muggleborns, not slaves, not no one! Everyone is equal, and you're not better than everyone, you pureblood!"

"She took my suggestion," Draco said, apparently finally founding his lost ability to talk. "For calling people pureblood. She definitely sounds like you now, Granger. Bravo, you've made another little know-it-all brat."

Hermione rolled her eyes, but couldn't prevent a grin. If he had said that a couple days ago, she would've slapped him, children around or not. However, the two of them had gotten considerably closer over the course of the last few days, and even if he called her Mudblood, as long as there were no children around, she would allow it. After all, he _was_ right; it was her status anyways. She couldn't help it, so she might as well wear it around proudly.

"You're both right," Theo said, looking slightly irritated that he was getting interrupted to explain whatever he was going to explain. "But anyways, this tradition-"

"So there were the insignificant people who came," Julie interrupted, glaring at Rose. "And then we ate them for dinner. I liked mine with a little ketchup, though Daddy preferred salt."

"Nice joke, Jules," Draco snorted. "I know for a fact that you hate ketchup. Stop scaring everyone else." He gestured to Rose, who was gaping, and to Scorpius, who was wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"Oh, she's not kidding," Theo informed, giving up on explaining his tradition for now. "Human flesh tastes horrid with ketchup. Salt, on the other hand, is completely different." As if to prove his point, he licked his lips and grinned.

"That's right! I have never liked ketchup after that incident. I do really really like salt now," Julie swung her legs back and forth excitedly. "I just slurped the insignificant person up."

Now Hermione glanced around, amused to see that she was the only one who wasn't staring with their mouths open. Giggling, she said, "Geez, you're all so gullible. They're obviously lying. Can you imagine them standing there, staring greedily down at some dead corpse with knives and forks in their hands, drooling?"

"'Mione's right," Theo grinned. "I would've expected your images of me to be _slightly_ better. Why would I eat dead corpses when I can just them alive? Much tastier."

"Shut up, Theo, you're not funny," Draco grumbled, obviously angry at being tricked so easily. If looks could kill, Theo himself would've been a dead person.

"Plus," Julie piped happily. "I'm a vegetarian. I don't eat any kind of meat. That's gross," She wrinkled her nose. "Why would I eat humans if I don't even eat cows or pigs?"

"Of course you don't," Scorpius drawled. "_I_ never believed that you would eat humans, of course. I was just testing you to see how far your little skit would go."

"Like father, like son," Hermione rolled her eyes, grinning, and Draco smirked. "Never wanting to admit that you're wrong."

"Of course," Draco said easily. "Why would we admit we're wrong if we're right all the time? You know a Malfoy is _never_ less of perfection."

Hermione refrained from the biting comment she would've bit out and instead just stuck her tongue out. The reactions from the kids were obvious; gasps could be heard as their gaped openly. Theo just laughed and said simply,

"I guess something _did_ go on in the shack that night."

Both Hermione and Draco blushed and started rapidly denying it. Julie had gone red in the face as well, but not from embarrassment. She was screaming loudly.

"NOOOOOO! Don't let my Mummy Draco be taken away by that-evil pig! I DON'T WANT TO HAVE HER AS A DADDY. I like my Teddy and my Mummy Draco! I want it to stay like it as it is!"

Hermione refrained herself from rolling her eyes. "I'm not stealing Draco or Theo from you," She said, trying to sound serious, though a grin was fighting to appear on her face. "And I will not, erm-become your Daddy anytime soon. Let's just say, for the time being, your _Mummy_," She snickered and received a glare. "And I are friends."

"Friends," Julie said the word slowly, as if testing it. Then her face lit up as she said, "You mean friends with benefits?"

Draco didn't even dignify himself with a reply as he turned to look at Theo. "_Theo_," He narrowed his eyes. "What exactly have you been teaching her?"

Theo froze. "It was nothing in _that_ context," He murmured. "It was part of a bedtime story that I told her one time, and she can remember stuff even if she heard it just one little time. She's got a wicked memory. She could probably tell you what she did for her fourth birthday."

"I can," Julie said proudly. "Teddy and I went up to the mountains and we rented bicycles to ride around it. Then I finally convinced Teddy to take me up the mountain slightly, so we went about a couple miles-"

"_Miles?_" Scorpius asked, his eyes popping out. "Do you mean meters?"

Julie seemed to think about it, and then shrugged. "I don't know. It doesn't matter. Meters, miles, whatever. So went up a couple metermiles, and then Theo said we had to come back down. I ended up accidently falling near the bottom, and scraping my knee. Teddy fixed me up, and then bought me ice cream." She paused for a second, and then continued. "They were out of my favorite chocolate ice cream, so Teddy bought me strawberry instead."

"So nice," Draco said absentmindedly. "That would be four years ago. Can I remember what I did four years ago for my birthday? No. I probably visited my father's grave. I think I insulted him, helped my mother throw some rocks at his tombstone, insulted him some more, and then left to go get some food. It was a nice day."

"_You_ are truly a warped person," Hermione grinned. "Have you ever had a normal birthday, ever?"

"Well, of course I have," Draco replied, a look of mock hurt on his face. "They were all normal. Million galleon birthday party for a Malfoy is normal. It's a tiny sum of money. Don't tell me you haven't gone unicorn riding, to five Quidditch matches, _and_ ride in the Gringotts cart for hours. That was occurred to me when I was six. I think my parents were mad at me that year, and deducted most of the experiences I was supposed to get."

"You spoiled brat," Hermione rolled her eyes. "The most I ever get is a small little party thrown in my Muggle house, and my mum invited some of my Muggle friends over and we ate some cake and popped some balloons. I probably had the same amount of fun as you did, plus I saved a _ton_ of more money."

"Funny thing is, you're probably right," Draco chuckled. "I never did like anything I did that was considered 'Malfoy.'"

"All little Drakie ever wanted to do was to be normal," Theo sang happily, smirking. "Imagine his horror that he was born to one of the richest families in the world, wizard or not. I bet that completely ruined his life."

Hermione snickered, and Draco opened his mouth to retort, when Julie interrupted, "Wait, Mummy Draco is rich?" She asked, swinging her legs back and forth.

"In a matter, yes," Draco ran a hand through his hair. "I gave most of my money away when the war ended, but-"

"Le gasp, Mummy Drakie's actually helping people in need," Theo grinned.

"It's funny how he could give away most of his money and still be about thousands of galleons richer than me," Hermione muttered.

"It's not my fault I'm rich," Draco countered, smirking. "Some people just can't help but have it all; the good looks, the riches, the smarts. Too bad you were only blessed with the smarts."

Hermione shoved him. "At least you're admitting I'm smart," She said proudly. "It's a start."

It took the awkward pause for them to realize why they were all clustered up in Theo's living room. The adults quickly sat down on the floor besides their kids, and Theo opened his mouth.

"As I was trying to say before this rather long interruption," He started cheerfully. "It is our tradition here to welcome all new visitors with a game. We are going to roleplay in costumes and-"

"Cosplay, Theo, not roleplay," Draco rolled his eyes. "Roleplaying is-"

"Whatever," Theo waved him off. "No one cares about your speeches, Drake." Hermione giggled. "So anyways, we roleplay, I'm sorry, _cosplay_, when new neighbors come to this island. We have a variety of costumes made by yours truly, so I think we'll have some fun. I know they're absolutely gorgeous, but you can stop staring at them now."

"There is no way in hell," Draco said faintly. "That I'm putting on a pink fairy costume. I am not an eight year old girl, Theo. I am a Malfoy, and therefore, I have my dignity to look after."

"Then you won't have to be dressed in a fairy costume." Theo shrugged indifferently. "I have other costumes here. You could be the Plum Princess, or maybe the queen of bees, or even a pink unicorn. You have to like _one_ of them."

"Hate to break your bubble, Theo, but none of them appeal me _at all_." Draco's face was a mixture of bewilderness and cautious, trying to see if Theo was trying to trick him again. From Hermione's point of view, Theo was _actually_ serious about the whole thing.

"I'm the Plum Princess!" Julie announced as she grabbed the costume. "I'm _always_ the Plum Princess. So you people have to listen to me, okay? Because I'm a princess."

"But _I'm_ a bee!" Rose countered, grabbing the black and yellow piece of cloth. "And I'm a queen as well. I can sting you, and I'm a queen too. A queen is higher than a princess, therefore you have to listen to _me_."

"What the hell is this," Scorpius said, picking up a orange-ish colored costume. "Oh, it's the Lion King. That means I'm higher than all of you. Beat that."

"Scor, a gorilla costume would suit you better," Draco said, only half paying attention. He was staring at Theo, who was now in his pink unicorn costume, prancing around. "Theo, that looks so wrong, you have _no_ idea."

"That's what they made cameras for," Hermione said cheerfully, whipping a camera out from who knows where and filmed. "How much do you want to bet I can be as rich as you when I get back, Malfoy? Just by selling this, I will be a millionaire,"

"I'd guess you would probably get as much as the camera cost," Draco said. "How did you get the camera, anyways? You didn't mention that you brought anything to the island."

"I didn't," Hermione replied happily, shifting her camera over to where Julie and Rose were fighting, and Scorpius was watching from the sidelines. She couldn't tell if the fight was staged or not. They were adding in dramatics, but the fight looked like their usual fights. "Theo told me I could borrow his for the time being."

Draco turned to his best friend. "Theo, I don't get anything?" He placed a hand over his heart. "I'm wounded that you would forget about me."

"Malfoy, grow up," Hermione muttered, not taking her eyes off her camera. "He's giving you the costumes. Isn't that enough?"

"Since when were you on his side?" Draco shot back, and then eyed the remaining costumes in disgust. Theo was sitting there, grinning at them like they were the most precious pieces of jewels in the world. Draco bent down and shuffled through them quickly, trying not to touch some of them, and trying to find one that wasn't pink. He found the only one left. Winnie the Pooh.

"That'll suit you so well, Mummy Drakie," Theo cooed, and Hermione turned around and doubled over, bawling her eyes out. She caught the whole thing on film too. "The color matches you, and see those eyes? I see the perfect resemblance."

Draco blanched, though before he could say anything, Julie decided to take pity on him and yell across the room, "Mummy Draco, you can borrow _mine_ if you want. I'll exchange with you!"

Draco sighed and buried his head in his hands, groaning, and Theo chuckled. "I'm not playing this stupid game," He said finally. "I would apologize for breaking you _tradition_, but I'm really not sorry. So, why don't all of you just go and play, and leave me alone here."

"Malfoy help me with the commentary," Hermione piped helpfully. "So why don't you three-er-Theo, are you doing it too?"

"I'll be the magically pink unicorn prancing in the background," Theo grinned cheerfully. "So don't mind me. I'll just be there, but not there at the same time. You get me?"

"Not really," Hermione muttered, and then continued before Theo could interrupt her. "So improvise as you go along. Make a script up. Don't hurt each other; remember, this is staged. Got it?"

All the kids plus Theo, who if one thought about it could be considered a child, nodded.

"This must be the wackiest play I will ever see," Draco murmured next to her, sliding into the couch. "A Plum Princess, a Queen Bee, the Lion King and a random pink prancing unicorn. Why couldn't he get costumes that were slightly related?"

"The Winnie the Pooh costume looks slightly like the Lion King costume in its color," Hermione teased. "You could always go put that on and go help them with their play. I'm sure they would greatly appreciate it, and so would I. Just think of how much money I would make if there was a _Malfoy_ dressed in a Winnie the Pooh costume."

Draco didn't dignify himself with a response.

"Once upon a time," Rose sang happily. "There lived a Queen Bee. She extremely pretty, rich, _and_ smart, and all the other bees wanted to wed her."

"Not." Julie murmured under her breath.

Rose glared at her, but to the adult's relief, she let it go and continued going. "But she was _lonely_. She had no friends. She would often go out to her garden in her palace and stare in envy at the _other_ palace, where the Plum Princess resided. The Plum Princess would always be laughing with the Lion King, and it made the Queen Bee wish _she_ had someone to laugh with."

"_Kind of a funny couple," Hermione grinning. "Scorpius and Julie. Kind of incest, don't you think? Aren't they both your children now?"_

"_If they even think about marrying each other, then I'll take off their heads," Draco growled._

"_Ouch."_

"The Plum Princess would see the Queen Bee looking at her," Julie continued. "But of course the Plum Princess knew that the Queen Bee was only looking at her because she was five times more beautiful than the Queen Bee would _ever_ be."

"_Ouch again."_

"_I sense that this will not turn out well," Draco added. "There's going to be a fight sometime during this. We should probably stop this before it happens."_

"_But we won't," Hermione said happily. _

"_Because it would take away our source of entertainment," Draco continued._

"_We're such good parents, wanting our kids to get in a fight just for own amusement." Hermione added._

"_I'm not the person using this skit to become rich," Draco pointed out._

"_Shut up."_

"The Lion King," Scorpius drawled slowly, so that everyone turned to look at him. "Has no comment at this point of time," He smirked as everyone glared at him. Theo took this time to prance in the background, and even Draco couldn't keep a straight face.

After the laughing ceased, Rose continued. "So one day, the Queen Bee sent her little bee minions to kidnap the Lion King and the Plum Princess over to her castle so they could be _friends_. Except, the Lion King and the Plum Princess didn't want to come when the bee minions asked nicely."

"_Your daughter seemed to have misunderstood the meaning of kidnapped," Draco smirked. "It's usually meaning that the person comes unwillingly and is dragged off by force."_

"_Rose doesn't use violence," Hermione stated proudly. "She uses words to reason with people._

"_That'll get her very far in life."_

"_You never know, maybe one day violence will be illegal in the world, and you will wish that you had the training to fight with words instead of weapons."_

"_Hate to break it to you, Granger, but most forms of violence are already illegal in the world. Do you see politicians at the top? I don't think so."_

"_You know, Malfoy, sometimes I like it better when you keep your mouth shut."  
>"Granger, I feel the same way, except I like it better when you always keep your mouth shut."<em>

_Hermione shoved him._

"Of course the Plum Princess didn't want to go with the ugly bee minions," Julie said happily. "She doesn't go with people below her. The Lion King doesn't either."

"_Spoken like a true Malfoy."_

"_You shouldn't be proud of that."_

"_You're just jealous you can't say, 'Spoken like a true Weasley.'"_

"_You are annoying."_

"_Tell me something I don't know."_

"The Lion King," Scorpius started again, and then smirked. "Has no comment at this time either."

Rose glared and stomped down her foot. "You can't do that! It's not helping the script at all! You have to actually contribute to the story!"

"_Your daughter just ruined the play, Granger."_

"_Do you think I'm blind?"_

Theo chose to save the day by walking Egyptian style in the background, and Hermione laughed so hard that she was sure that the camera shook so much that the viewers wouldn't be able to see anything. Hermione read somewhere that laughing kept a person healthy, but could too much laughing be bad for the person as well?

Julie piped up, bringing them all back on track. "So one day, the Plum Princess was out picking her apples-"

"Plums," Rose interrupted helpfully.

"I know what I'm saying," Julie puffed up her cheeks, glaring. "The Plum Princess was picking her apples, and that was that!"

"_That officially makes no sense, Malfoy."_

"_Why are you looking at me? She's not really my daughter."_

"And the Lion King was sitting in the Plum Princess's castle waiting for the Plum Princess to get back with her plums—er, apples, I mean. And then he was suddenly attacked by the little bee minions." Scorpius volunteered.

"So the Queen Bee commanded the bee minions to return with the Lion King. Though she wanted both the Lion King and the Plum Princess, one was better than none."

"But it turns out that the Lion King was too heavy for little bee minions to carry because they have no muscle," Julie replied gleefully. "So the Lion King was dropped, and the Plum Princess caught him!"

"_I have a feeling that Julie's feelings for your little precious son is more than meets the eye."_

"_No kidding, Granger, even I can see that."_

_Hermione fake coughed. "Incest."_

"_For the last bloody time, Julie is not my actual daughter!"_

"The Queen Bee was very sad," Rose said, though proving the opposite as she twirled around in her costume, apparently finding her sting very fascinating. "She wept for days in her castle, and not even the best of her bee minions could get her to open her locked door."

"Meanwhile back in the Plum castle," Julie continued.

"_The Plum castle filled with apples," Draco snickered._

"_You don't know the definition of quiet, do you?"_

"_Of course I do. Google it, and you'll get: Malfoy."_

"_You actually know what Google is. I'm impressed."_

"_No comment."_

"The Lion King and the Plum Princess were happily eating dinner." Julie was saying. "They were very thankful that the bad Queen Bee wasn't able to kidnap her. The Queen Bee was a bad guy in their minds now. They would not be friends with the Queen Bee."

"Yes they would!" Rose snapped back at her. Hermione felt a slight pang of guilt; it was obvious that her daughter was lonely. She would have to pay more attention to her from now on. "They would become best of friends very soon."

"Who wants to be friends with the Queen Bee?" Julie snarled back. "Lion King and Plum Princess are happy the way they are. The Queen Bee can be friends with her little ugly bee minions. No one else wants to be associated with her."

"Julie." Theo said disapprovingly, though his strict voice was cancelled out by the fact that he was still in his costume and the huge loopy grin completely ruin the mood. "That wasn't nice. You should apologize to Rosie. She didn't do anything to you-"

"I GET IT!" Rose suddenly yelled, and Hermione was so shocked by the sudden outburst she nearly dropped her camera, catching it at the last moment. Draco wasn't so lucky and fell out of his seat. "I get it that you don't like me! I get it that I'm ugly, and that I'm a brat, and that I'm a Mudblood! But why can't you be nice to me? Do I look like a pig? I want to be friends with you, but why can't you accept that? Why are you always so mean to me? I give up! I don't want to be friends with you. You may be pretty on the outside, but you're as ugly as a pig on the inside. I HATE YOU." She chucked her costume on the floor, and then ran out.

"Rose," Hermione got up to go chase her daughter, but was surprised when Scorpius sprinted ahead of her, and then followed Rose quickly. Maybe Rose wasn't as friendless as she thought she was. Julie had started crying.

"I ruin everything, don't I," She said slowly, a tear streaming down her face. "Me and my big mouth. The Queen Bee was right, I am ugly on the inside."

"The Queen Bee has a name, Julie," Theo patted gently, and having taken off his costume, looked like a real father. Hermione wondered if she had ever looked like that. "And you're not ugly on the inside. She was angry, you were angry, you both blurted out random things. I want you to promise me that you'll be nicer to her, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy Teddy," She nodded and hiccupped, hugging Theo, before quickly jumping up, wiping her tears on her sleeves. "I'm going to find Rose," She said. "I'm going to apologize to her." She sprinted out the door.

There was an awkward pause, as the adults were left in the room with costumes, before they started chuckling.

"Well, maybe something good is going to come out of your little tradition, Theo," Hermione teased. "Maybe Rose will have gotten a friend or two."

"I wouldn't count on them coming back tonight," Theo grinned. "They are going to spend the whole night and maybe tomorrow together. You know how little kids are. When they make a new friend, they want to spend the first few hours of their friendship being with each other."

"I wish I was a kid," Draco murmured to no one in particular. "Rather, I wish I was a kid now, with no worries. We were probably the unluckiest bunch, growing up in Voldemort's time period. We didn't have the experiences a normal kid should have."

"I doubt _you_ would've had it, regardless of Voldemort or not." Hermione eyed him. "But even though I didn't have a normal life, I certainly tried to."

"I can't imagine how that would've turned out for you," Theo said. "You were associated with Potty, and therefore you couldn't, no matter how hard you tried, led a normal life. You knew that."

"Well, of course I knew that," Hermione replied. "But none of us in the wizard world could lead a normal life anyways. I tried to live a normal Muggle life, whenever I went back to my house for vacation. No one there knew I was a know-it-all chit, or that I was associated with one of the luckiest people on earth or that I was even involved in the wizard world at all. To them, I was just Hermione Granger, another teenage girl. I did have a decent Muggle life though."

"They didn't know you were a know-it-all?" Draco raised an eyebrow. "I thought it would've been fairly obvious the second you opened your mouth."

"Actually," Hermione informed him. "I was considered stupid in the Muggle world, only because I didn't feel the need to study. When I came to the wizard world, I was afraid they would drop me out of the school because I was Muggleborn, and naturally behind everyone else. That's the only reason I worked hard, because I wanted to stay in the school. In the Muggle world, I wasn't going to be dropped out of the school at anytime. I really hate studying, to be honest with you."

"What do you know," Theo replied cheekily. "Hermione Granger actually admits that she hates her books and essays. You learn something new every day."

"I bet you that fact would probably earn me more money than your little video, Granger," Draco smirked. "You want to bet on it?"

"I bet you that that bet will get you more money than the fact that I hate studying," Hermione grinned. "Deal or no deal?"

"I hate that show," Draco said. "But sure, just don't come crying to me when you lose the big bucks."

"It astonishes me how much you know about the Muggle world," Theo said, ignoring both of them. "See, even I didn't know what deal or no deal is."

"You've been living on an island," Draco pointed out. "I would be surprised if you knew what Google, or Apple is."

"I know what an apple is," Theo argued. "Even Julie knew what an apple was, except she used it in the wrong context. And a Google…isn't that one of the Webkinz pets? Goggles? Googles? Same thing."

"I find it funny that he knows what one of the Webkinz pets are, and not what Google is," Hermione giggled. "Seems like we have a lot to teach him."

"Alright," Draco grinned evilly. "Ready to learn, Theo?"

"Yes, Teacher Drakie," Theo replied innocently, and sat down cross legged on the floor. Hermione giggled.

"The price for an hour will be ten thousand galleons."


	8. Day 7

**Day 7**  
>She hated the world. It had been nothing but mean to her. All she had wanted to do was to make some friends, maybe with Scorpius and Julie, but they had both rejected her. Her own mummy had found her happiness with Mister Old Meanie, and while she didn't fully understand what she found in Mister Old Meanie, as long as her mummy was happy, so was she. That left her alone on the island, though. Daddy Theo had been nothing but nice to her, but even he was busy in his room often, doing who knows what, and Julie had been his real daughter, so it was only natural that she deserved Daddy Theo's attention more than she did.<p>

That thought made her sad and left her feeling isolated. Isolated from the world, from her friends back at home, from everyone on this island. For the first time, the feeling of true loneliness sank into her.

She wondered if anyone cared. She knew her Mummy care, but her Mummy was her Mummy, and Mummy's were supposed to care no matter what their kids did. She wondered if anyone besides her Mummy cared. She wondered if even _Daddy Theo_ cared.

The big question now, was to drown herself, or not to drown herself. There was plenty of water to do so, and she had stolen one of her Mummy's adult newspaper and read about suicides. She didn't know how to pronounce is, the word suicide was weird. She did learn what it meant, though, and it looked awfully appealing to her. She would be happy, and everyone else would be happy as well.

The thought of one person prevented her from doing so, however. So instead, she did something else. She sat down on the beach, and buried her head between her legs.

Rose Weasley wept.

And wept.

And wept.

She missed her home so much. She missed her friends so much. She missed _him_ so much. She just wanted to go home; wanted to leave this entire experience behind her. She wanted to leave _all_ her sad moments behind her, but she wasn't sure if she would have anything in her left.

So the only thing she could think of doing was cry. Cry until there were no tears left in her eyes, until her body was completely drained dry. Maybe then she wouldn't need to drown herself to die. She would just empty herself. It made her feel better.

"Rose?"

She whirled around. Scorpius stood a good three feet away from her, his hand stuck in his pockets and an unsure look on his face, like he was debating whether or not to comfort her. This had to be a lie, though. Someone had to have put him up to this. He would not have came after her if someone didn't. Maybe her Mummy? But Scorpius had no reason to listen to her. It had to be Daddy Theo, since Mister Old Meanie didn't care a whit about her. But why would Daddy Theo send Scorpius instead of her own Mummy? It made no sense.

Scorpius was still standing there, the cool breeze blowing at his hair, making it fly in front of his eyes. His hair, which looked almost white, looked silky. His hands were in his jean pockets, and he wore a blue hoodie. She hadn't noticed it under his Lion King costume. He looked rather attractive.

.

..

…

Of course she didn't think that! It was simply the heat was getting to her—er rather, the warmth. That was it. She was not thinking clearly. It was her brain's fault, not hers. Definitely not hers. She was innocent, sweet Rose. No way she would should be thinking those thoughts. She was only eight. Her Mummy would yell at her if she knew.

She saw him take a small step forwards, and she immediately shrank back. "Don't come over here! Don't you dare!" She yelled, slightly louder than was necessary. "I don't know who put you up to this, but tell them that you don't need to bother! I know you don't want to do this anyways! Just go back and tell them I'm going to empty myself to death. I bet that'll make you all happier, won't it? HUH? ANSWER ME. WON'T IT?"

Scorpius stared at her incredulously, and for a second, Rose thought he was going to slap her. Instead, he opened his mouth and did something Rose didn't think he would do, nor found it appropriate in the given situation.

He laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed.

And he stopped so suddenly that Rose was sure he died. She didn't know if she cared or not though. He had the gale to laugh at her! Still, wouldn't it be a sin to let such an attractive human die? But he still laughed at her! And he was clearly messing up her brain! He deserved to die.

So because she made up her decision that Scorpius Malfoy _must_ leave the world, she said in a quiet voice, "Are you okay?"

"You truly are a kid," He seemed as if he were chuckling and smirking at the same time, which just ended up with him having a wacko grin plastered on his face. "Oh, how the young crack me up."

Rose just looked at him, and then once made sure he wasn't joking, just sighed and gave him a skeptical look. "You're two months older than me, you dummy."

"Julie is five weeks younger than you," Scorpius shrugged indifferently. "That gives you perfect right to make fun of her. No one plays by the rules in this world. It's all about who uses the unfairness to their advantage."

Rose nodded slowly, when a sudden thought occurred to her. "Wait, why are you telling me this?" She asked, narrowing her eyes and continued on when Scorpius opened his mouth to speak. "Why are you here at all, is the better question. Did someone put you up to this? I know, Mister Old Meanie must've threatened you with your gorilla adventures. Am I right?"

Scorpius's mouth was set in a thin line. "No, Father did not threaten me with that," He said slowly. "Why do you know about that anyways?"

"You would be amazed at how much a person can learn by eavesdropping," Rose replied honestly. "It's the best skill there is out there. If you can eavesdrop, you can discover another person's weak points without having to go through all the trouble."

"You sure you were born in the right family?"He gave her a sideways look, and Rose suddenly remembered that she never actually remembered him sitting down next to her. "Because that sounds completely like something that a Malfoy would say."

"Or maybe it's something a Weasley would say," Rose countered. "You Malfoys just had no creativity whatsoever and stole our line. You ought to be ashamed of yourself."

Scorpius looked at her, before burst out laughing. Rose couldn't keep a few giggles from escaping her, though she tried to keep a straight face. "That sounds _exactly_ like McGonagall," He snickered. "Bravo, Rose, you have succeeded in becoming Hogwart's new Transfiguration teacher. I trust that you will follow _all_ your responsibilities and," His eyes lit up as an idea crossed his mind. "That you will maintain order."

"I will have order!" Rose giggled in a high pitched tone, wiping her remaining tears on her sleeves. Scorpius offered her a tissue he found from his pocket, but she said no because she didn't really trust the green sticky thing on it. He just offered her an apologetic grin and shrug. "If that woman were alive today, I would kill her with my bare hands."

Scorpius shot her a surprised look. "So violent," He teased, gently poking her ribs. Little did he know that he just found her Achilles heel, and she double over, before scampering a couple feet away from him. "Whoa there, aren't we sensitive? I think I may have just found the magic weapon. Be prepared, Rose Weasely, you never know where I might be lurking."

"Wouldn't that be nice," Rose snorted, swatting at his head. "A Malfoy stalking a Weasley. You make your Father proud."

Scorpius's face darkened. "I don't care what my Father thinks of me," He replied. "Plus, have you seen how cozy he was with your Mum? I don't think that rule applies to him anymore. Anyways, it wouldn't be the first time," He shrugged indifferently.

"Well then-" Rose stopped, processing what he had just said. "Wait, you mean that you stalk me on a daily basis? Since when did this start?"

Scorpius snorted softly. "I never said that. Don't let your ego get ahead of yourself," He grinned when Rose rolled her eyes. "Just sometimes, though. You came by our summer house about a year ago. I noticed you then, but Father said not to go near you. Obviously, his opinions have changed quite a bit. I've been watching you from afar, though."

"Why would you do that?" Rose's voice came out squeaky. "What is it that's about my Muggle life could possibly appeal you? I thought you had everything you want. Why would you want to watch _me_?"

Scorpius shrugged, his face a mask of indifference, but Rose thought she could see a little emotion buried within it. "Maybe I wanted the same thing that you want." He replied. "A friend, someone to talk to, someone to tease. It's silly, but one can get lonely sometimes, especially in such a big mansion. There's no one, even the house elves were released, and Father is always busy."

"That's why Julie and you clicked so quickly. I wondered why the two of you got along so well. I guess lonely people just attract each other, huh?"

"Shut up."

"Make me."

"That theory has yet to be proven wrong though," Scorpius tapped his chin thoughtfully, completely ignoring Rose. "Don't you think?"

"I don't think attracted is the right word either you _or_ Julie have when it comes to me," Rose fought to keep up her brave face. "You never answered my question, by the way. About why you're here, who forced you to come here, and what reward you might get when you get back. So unless you want to be slapped, you better start talking, Mister."

"Scorpius."

"Oh, is it Mister Scorpius now? I wasn't aware that we were going to give each other titles."

"Not Mister Scorpius, you idiot," Scorpius looked like he was unsure of whether to laugh or remain serious. "Just call me Scorpius. We're not ten years apart, for Merlin's sake. Why don't we go through the introductions again, since you clearly missed it." He ducked, missing her flying fist by centimeters. "Whoa there, calm down girl. I don't fancy a broken nose." He held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Scorpius."

"Scorpius is such a weird name, I don't think I can call you that without laughing." She giggled, and then accepted his handshake. "Why so formal for someone who insists on not using formalities? Oh well, hi, I'm Rose Weasely. How do you do?"

"I'm alright," He said, shaking her hand enthusiastically. They engaged themselves in a competitive game of thumb war. "How about yourself? How are you doing on this lovely day?"

"Eh, nothing much," Rose shrugged, keeping her eyes on the battling thumbs. "Just went around in a Queen Bee costume and got utterly shot down by the Plum Princess who liked apples. Nothing that interesting. But then again, my life isn't interesting."

Scorpius's eyes darkened, but how Rose knew that without lifting her eyes from their interlocked hands was a mystery to her. "Julie didn't mean that," He said. "She was angry, and she's just a kid, so she blurts out whatever's on her mind. Don't let what she said get you. She bullies people who don't listen to her." Deciding to end the match, Scorpius jabbed her ribs and then squished her thumb down with his own. "Hah, I win."

"You are a bigger bully than Julie will ever be," Rose said sourly, rubbing her side. "You cheater, I'm never playing with you again."

"Boys don't play anything," Scorpius informed her coolly, and as if to prove his point, flipped his hair. He smirked, looking extremely pleased with himself, so Rose couldn't find the heart to tell him he looked like an absolute idiot.

"Oh really," Rose replied in a flat voice. "I beg to differ. Boys play pokemon, for one. There are millions of other examples that I could find. So that disproves your theory."

"Pokemon?" Scorpius raised an eyebrow, and for a second Rose thought he was going to tease her. It turned out to be completely different. "What's pokemon?"

Rose's mouth dropped open. "You don't know what pokemon is?" She gaped at him. "How can you not know what pokemon is? You have been deprived from your childhood. You've never heard of Pikachu or psyduck or any of those?"

"Sounds like some kind of candy. Are they edible?"

"No! Well, you probably could eat a Pikachu, but I wouldn't recommend it. First of all, you would probably die first of electric shock."

"If it's not edible, it's not important," Scorpius said. "Anyways, I'm afraid you're going to have to work harder to disprove my theory. I _am_ a Malfoy after all, so naturally, we're not stupid. Boys don't play anything. They go hang out and show off their swag. Like a boss."

"You have gone bonkers," Rose muttered. "You have no swag to show off, you only wish you did."

"Ouch," Scorpius winced slightly, putting a hand over his heart. "You sure know how to wound a poor little boy."

"After you went through so much trouble of proving that you had superiority over me because you were older," Rose sighed. "I would say you're an expert at wounding people. I mean, you even use tactics that feel like you're _jabbing_ them right in the stomach." She laughed at his astonished face. "Oh, loosen up. I'm kidding. You look like you've never a joke before. You _really_ have been deprived of your childhood. No pokemon, no jokes, what exactly did you have?"

Scorpius looked at her, amused. "Why don't we trade?" He asked her, grinning. "My childhood for your childhood. Capisce?"

"My childhood?" Rose's voice had gone up at least an octave, and she hoped Scorpius didn't notice, though it was evident that he had by him raising his eyebrows. "Why would you care about my childhood?"

"Forget it," He waved her off. "I can tell you're uncomfortable about sharing it. I respect your privacy. I won't pry. So you wanted to know about my childhood, right-"

"No," Rose gulped, and then took a deep breath. "If we're going to be-er-_acquaintances,_ then you deserve to know everything you want to know, which includes my childhood. Plus, and exchange. Childhood for childhood, it's perfectly fair."

Scorpius grinned at her. "Friends, Rose, friends. No one says acquaintances anymore besides old ladies," She scowled at him. "I won't force you to tell me, but if you want to, then I'm willing to listen. So, would you like me to go first?"

Rose swallowed and nodded quickly. "Yes please."

"Alright, let's see, where do I start?" He scratched the back of his head. "I was a very deprived child, as you said. Even though the war was over, I still had my duties I had to uphold, my dignity as well as the Malfoy reputation to keep, and a whole magic education to learn. My life was mostly books and essays. I would read a book, write an essay, and my Father would grade me on it."

"That sounds awfully boring," Rose commented. "Don't you ever want to get outside and run around? Play some sport or something?"

Scorpius looked at her like she was crazy. "Why would I need to play sports outside? The only sport I was interested in playing was Quidditch, and I could easily practice with my Father inside the indoor Quidditch pitch. No need to go outside and expose yourself to the sun."

"I should've guessed," Rose murmured. "The day I get a Quidditch pitch in my house is the day the world will end. Trust me on this."

Scorpius grinned, and then continued, "I rarely saw anyone else. I saw Godmother Pansy and Godfather Blaise's kid, Ned Zabini, sometimes, but he was just as upright and tight as I was. And he spoke in precise grammar and talked like this," Scorpius cleared his throat. "Hello, my name is Ned Zabini. I do not use conjunctions or apostrophes because I am too cool for those. Therefore, I must remain proper and speak in precise English at all times or I will be spanked and throw in the cellar and locked up for at least ten days."

"Ouch," Rose winced. "Your pureblood families have such harsh punishments. The worst Mummy has ever done to me is throw away my drawings that I drew. They magically appear when she stops being angry at me, though, so I'm okay with that."

"Drawings?" Scorpius asked. "You liked drawing?"

"It's one of the only things I'm good at," Rose admitted shyly. "I like drawing in between studying, as it gives me time to take my brain off things. I'm trying to improve, though I'm not that good yet."

"Studying and drawing, hmm," Scorpius tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Is that all your childhood? I wouldn't be surprised if it was. Someone related to the Grangers much love studying magic."

"No, actually, I was pretty wild," Rose said. "I didn't start drawing _or_ really studying magic until the beginning of this year. I spent most of my time running around with my best friend."

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. "What's her name, and what did you do with her? Paint each other's nails and braid each other's hair? I'm so relieved I don't have a sister. The smell of nail polish drives me nuts."

Rose slightly grinned, before taking a deep breath. "It's a him, actually," She informed Scorpius. "His name was Nicolas Holloman, but everyone knew him as Nick. He was very athletic, so in shape that you probably couldn't find someone better. He's a year older than me, but that never bothered either of us," She smiled fondly. "He taught me how to swim, how to play soccer, and all that other stuff. I taught him how to draw, which he gave up on in approximately five minutes."

Scorpius nodded. "Did you tell him about the magic world?"

"Of course I didn't. Even though he was my best friend, I wasn't going to jeopardize the wizard world just because of someone I played with. We had just as many experiences without me telling him anything."

"I understand. Go on."

Rose chewed her bottom lip. "There's nothing else for me to really say. That's all. Unless you want to hear every single memory that we had together, that's how most people saw him. The soccer jock, Nick Holloman. He was my best friend though, and we did so many things together. I hope I don't sound like I'm rubbing him in your face."

"No, you're not," Scorpius smiled gently at her. "It's nice to hear about happiness in the world. It was all depressing in the mansion. There was literally no happy news. I have a question I have to ask you, though."

"Go ahead, I'll answer anything as long as it's appropriate."

"You keep saying past tense. Like, _was_, and _saw_, and all those other verbs. Did he move somewhere?"

Rose lowered her eyes to the ground, and Scorpius was irritated with himself for making her eyes start to tear up again. "He died in a car accident last year." She said. "He died because he got a new babysitter that day, and she was taking him from the game back to his home. I was at the game, and they won. I had hugged him and told him I'd talk to him when I got back home. I told him he couldn't ride in my car because I had a surprise waiting for him there. Looks like he'll never open the surprise."

"Rose," Scorpius swallowed, patting her back sympathetically. "It wasn't your fault, even though sometimes it seems like it. Even if Nick had somehow went in your car instead of his babysitter's, his babysitter still would've died, and Nick would've blamed himself for _their_ death. There's always going to be someone who thinks they're guilty, even though in this instance, there's _not_. You're going to let the guilt eat away at you."

"You don't know anything," Rose sniffed, burying her head in her knees. "You don't know what it's like to lost a brother, or someone who's close to you. You don't know until it hits you in the face, and it's too late to take anything back. You don't know how much you have to cherish every moment with people you love. _You. Don't. Know. Anything."_

"Completely terrible example, but I looked up to my Mother a lot," Scorpius pointed out. "She was always there for me, always nice about everything, until one day Father told me of her _real_ plans. I was shocked; I never thought that she would've done that to me. Apparently, I didn't know her at all when the next night she held a gun to my head. She was a person who I loved, and suddenly that part of her was dead. Just like that. I will never read bedtime stories with her again."

Rose held out her hand, and Scorpius was going to high-five it when he realized that probably wasn't her intention. He placed his hand in hers instead and squeezed it. "We're really unlucky, you know that?" Rose murmured quietly. "We have the worst luck in the world, yet we can't really complain. I would give everything to live in this time period than to live in my Mummy's time period. That must have been terrifying, not knowing if people who were special to you were alive or not, or whether or not you would die the next day."

"They got on," Scorpius said gently. "Only because they were able to look pass their losses. I'm not saying that we should forget people who died, because we definitely shouldn't. They'll always be in our hearts. We shouldn't let the guilt and pain drag us down, though. The deceased definitely wouldn't want that. Nick definitely wouldn't want that."

"Your Mummy wouldn't want that either," Rose hiccupped. "The part of your Mummy that was actually your Mummy, anyways. Not the part of your Mummy that isn't your Mummy."

"That makes no sense," Scorpius replied amused.

"It's funny how we're talking like you know Nick and I know your Mummy," Rose gave a shaky giggle. "When we don't know anything about them at all."

"I can see Nick right in front of me," Scorpius pointed out. "I can see him through you. He's quite the picture, isn't he? You never told me he had green hair."

"Shut up," Rose laughed, shoving him lightly. "You clearly do not see him through me. He didn't have green hair; he is clearly not a freak. He had normal hair color, like everyone. You, on the other hand," She grinned.

"You have no idea how many people would die for my hair color," He smirked proudly. "It can sell for quite a lot of money in the markets, actually-"

"What if you had lice? Would it sell then? I didn't think so! No one wants your stinky hair, Scorpius."

Scorpius sighed and turned around. "Hey Julie, how long have you been standing there?" Rose had froze, too scared to look behind her.

"I just got here, actually," Julie made her way towards the two, noticing their hands in each other. "Oh look, you two are friends already," She beamed, like it was all her doing. "That's good, now we can all be nice to each other—Scorpius, you made her cry?" She saw Rose's tear-stained face. "You didn't tell me your favorite past time was to bully damsels in distress."

"Har har, you're funny," Scorpius rolled her eyes. "She was just telling me about her childhood, since she claims mine is deprived since I do not know what pokemon is."

"Pokemon sounds edible," Julie said impatiently. "And her saying that led to her to cry? Nuh uh, I don't think so. Try again, Scorpius. Stop lying to me."

"I told you it sounded edible!" Scorpius said, and Rose giggled. "See, I'm not the only one. And Julie, that's personal. Unless you want share parts of _your_ childhood, which I'm sure would be absolutely delightful. "

"Nuh uh." Julie crossed her hands over her chest. "I'm not giving you any info about me and Teddy. So hah. Deal with it. Too bad so sad."

"It's called an exchange," Rose said, still rather cautious around Julie. "You give me parts of it, and I'll give you parts of mine. It's a win-win situation."

Julie evaluated her, before shrugging. "Maybe another time," she said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "I don't feel like explaining right now. So what exciting thing are you guys going to do? The parents won't expect us back til the morning, so we still have some time."

"What time is it?" Scorpius asked, and Rose suddenly felt the exhaustion wave hit her. She yawned, her mouth open wide. Scorpius shook his head, hiding a grin, while Julie muttered something that sounded oddly like, 'So immature,' though Rose could see a smile threatening to pop up on her face as well.

"It's around two in the morning," She said excitedly. "The perfect time to plan an adventure. There must be lots of places on the island you haven't seen before, so why don't we go around sometimes? It'll be fun, and I'll be your tour guide. Even _I_ haven't been to some of the places on this island yet."

"Since when is two in the morning a good time to plan?" Rose asked skeptically. "Wouldn't you usually be so tired you couldn't think straight?"

"Shut up," Was Julie's response.

"Two in the morning, hm," Scorpius mused thoughtfully. "That means that this is our seventh day here. Time suddenly sped up. Only about three more weeks left until we get to get out of this place."

Julie puffed up her cheeks. "You want to get away from here?" She demanded. "You want to get away from me? Are you sure about that? Are you sure you know what you're saying?"

"Who wouldn't want to get away from you," Rose muttered, and then immediately regretted it. Just as she was making so much progress with Julie, she now ruined it with her big mouth. She was thoroughly surprised when instead of yelling, Julie grinned at her. It looks weird for someone who Rose had seen always frowning to have her mouth turned the other way. It looked oddly nice.

"You're not that bad, actually," Julie declared. "So from now on, we're going to get along, okay? I'm Julie." There was a pause where Rose stared at her in disbelief. "You've really never done this before? I guess I'm going to have to show you how to introduce yourself then." She sighed as if it was the most bothersome thing in the world. "So you say, hi, my name is Rose. Got it?"

Scorpius shot her an amused look. "Alright, Julie, we're over the introductions. Now what were you saying about an adventure?"

"I'm not going to tell you," Julie puffed up her cheeks, crossed her arms and looked away, glaring into the distance. "Because you _clearly_ don't appreciate me and my information, so I will keep it to myself! That way, you will never be able to know what _I_ know. Too bad, so sad. You asked for it."

Scorpius shot Rose an amused look and winked. "Watch and learn," He told her, and then as Julie was still staring in to the distance, he poked a finger into her stomach and started tickling her. Julie's legs immediately gave way, yet Scorpius didn't stop his endless assault.

"Stop it!" She squealed, flailing, though her skinny arms didn't help against his muscular ones. He easily pinned her to the ground. "That's not fair! You can't take advantage of me like that! You cheater, play by the rules!"

"Life has no rules," Scorpius called over her laughter. "Hey, Rose, come and help me hold her down. We wouldn't want her to get away until she spills all her secrets."

"Cheaters!" Julie shrieked as Rose joined in excitedly. They continued until Julie raised a white flag, and sat up huffing and puffing when they released her, her face red as she struggled to catch her breath.

"You could've just asked kindly," Julie said crossly when she finally found her ability to talk. "You didn't need to go through so much trouble just for that. Ever heard of the word 'please?' It would've been much more effective. You never know, you might've made me so angry I won't tell you a thing now," She paused, eyeing Scorpius's fingers, which were now making tickling motions. "On a second thought, I think I better tell you now, shouldn't I?"

"That you should," Scorpius said gleefully, happy with the victory, and held his hand up for Rose to high-five. Rose looked at it surprised; she hadn't done much, yet Scorpius was still including her in this victory? The gesture was so friendly Rose almost burst out crying right there, but she had no doubt it would've scared the two other kids, so she kept her tears back and just sat back smiling.

"I guess I'll have to tell you," Julie huffed, though it was obvious that she was excited to share whatever information she wanted to share. "You know Teddy's house, right?" She gave them both time to nod, before she continued dramatically. "So, there's this big mountain behind it. And we're going to explore it."

Rose couldn't prevent a look of disgust reaching her face. "Ew, mountains? Why would you need mountains for? What can you possibly gain from exploring a mountain? It's all muddy and dirty and when it rains, it'll be all wet and slippery. Plus, we have to hike."

"That's the point," Julie's eyes twinkled excitedly. "You think explorers have it easy? They have to go through all the hard work, and that's how they get all the cool stuff! No one gets anywhere from sitting on a potato acting like a couch-"

"Sitting on a couch acting like a potato," Rose corrected.

"Whatever," Julie waved her off. "The point is, we got to go out there and discover things! Not wait for them to be discovered! You won't make any money from other people's hard work! You have to go out to get the fame! You should know that."

Scorpius shot Rose an amused look. "She wants to be an explorer when she grows up," He told her, smirking. "It's really quite amusing. One would think she would be a glamour princess with all her makeup and jewelry and all those pretty stuff. But no, she's a hands-on girl. She's the last person I would've thought would be associated with _exploring._"

"Shut up Scorpius!" Julie huffed at him. "Exploring is perfectly normal for girls, okay? I'm not the person who wants to be a _gorilla_ when they grow up."

Scorpius turned beet red, and Rose took the time to interrupt. "I won't say anything about your dreams," Rose told Julie. "But what is on this mountain that could possibly be waiting for you to discover? It's all mud and dirt here. Are you trying to look for jewels and pretty diamonds?"

"Psh, of course not," Julie wrinkled her nose. "Ew, who likes those things anyways? I'm looking for _much_ more exciting things than nonliving dead gems."

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. "Oh really," He drawled. "Then what exactly _are_ you looking for then?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Julie smacked her mouth loudly and rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips. "I'm looking for talking dinosaurs, of course. There's got to be some up there."

"Dinosaurs?" Rose looked at her, but was surprised to see the girl didn't appear to be kidding. "Hate to break your bubble, Julie, but dinosaurs are extinct. They have been extinct for a long time now. And dinosaurs don't talk anyways."

"Says you," Julie countered, crossing her arms over her chest and glared. "You never know." Catching Scorpius's skeptical glance, she puffed up her cheeks and said, "Fine, not talking dinosaurs then. Talking animals. Happy? We will meet a talking animal somewhere on the mountains."

"You, Julie," Scorpius grinned. "Are truly the most warped child that I have ever met."

"Why thank you, I work hard on that." Julie took a dramatic bow, and even Rose couldn't stifle a giggle. She had to admit, even though Julie was just as bossy and stubborn as she thought she was, she wasn't that bad. Maybe Rose really could find some friends from the unlikeliest people. She had already told Scorpius about Nick, and even if she didn't want to be associated with him, he could easily tell the world about Nick. So in other words, she was stuck trying to get on both their good sides.

Rose didn't know why she told Scorpius, really. He had been there, listening to her, trying to sympathize, and the words just came tumbling out of her. She hadn't registered the fact that this was a _Malfoy_ sitting next to her, whose entire family had hated Mudbloods. She only saw him as Scorpius. And for some reason, though they hardly ever talked, she had trusted him enough.

Even Rose herself couldn't understand why. So she settled for the reason that she 'just did.'

"So, you in or not?" Julie demanded. "I'm not forcing you to come-just don't blame me when you miss out on the fame and the glory. Merlin knows I'm not sharing the treasures that I find!"

"Hasn't you Father told you," Scorpius replied, amused. "Not to refer to living organisms as treasures? You were looking for-talking animals, weren't you? They were living the last time I checked. Unless, of course, you were going to dig up the fossils of these animals. I'm not sure if you can determine if they talk or not by their fossils, though."

"No one cares, Scorpius!" Julie yelled. "Why don't you make us all happy by keeping your mouth shut?"

"Yes, I know, none of you can handle me being right all the time," Scorpius smirked. "It's alright. I know you're jealous, but do you _really_ have to express it this way? You can just bow down to me and-"

"Argh, you're insufferable!" Julie glared, and then turned around. "Whatever, you don't _have_ to come. You can stay down here and be _boring_. Rose, you'll come with me, won't you? I'll get Teddy to pack some sandwiches for you."

For a second, Rose debated on saying no, just to see Julie's reaction. However, she figured getting on Scorpius's bad side would probably be better than getting on Julie's bad side, though, and she _really_ wanted to see the talking animals, even though she knew they didn't exist. Even regular animals would be exciting. Plus, it would give her Mummy some time to herself and her some time to get out and be independent. Rose nodded eagerly.

"Sure, gang up on me," Scorpius murmured. "Fine then, I'll tag along. _Someone_ has to make sure you young children don't make a mess out of yourselves." Rose could detect under the flat tone of his voice, though, that he was secretly excited for their little expedition. For this reason, it pushed her to grin and say,

"Now, Scorpius," Rose tsked thoughtfully. "No one asked you to come. You blew your chance. It would be better for you to stay here. Mountains are dangerous, you see, and we wouldn't want you to get hurt. It'll be Julie and I, won't it?" She turned to look at Julie hopefully.

Julie had froze, and was not speaking, staring at Rose. Rose had begun to panic. What is _she_ just blew her chance to become friends with them? What if Julie decided to take Scorpius's side, and then _she'd_ be the one left behind? Rose felt her insides die. When Julie opened her mouth, Rose braced herself for Julie's yelling.

Then, Julie laughed.

"You're so funny," Julie giggled, clutching her stomach. "I'm so sorry I was mean to you. If only I knew you had such a good sense of humor, I would've talked to you earlier. Next time, show it earlier, okay? Then maybe I wouldn't hang around meanies like Scorpius."

Rose was slightly startled, and looked at Scorpius, only to find him grinning. "Don't mind Julie. She always laughs at the things that you didn't intend to be funny, and doesn't laugh _at all_ when you try to. It's rather heartbreaking when there's no noise after you tell a joke, but you'll learn to get used to it."

"But first you need to get used to me!" Julie piped happily, recovering from her laughing fit. "Hey, Rose, are you fast? I mean, are you good at running?"

"Running?" Rose raised an eyebrow. "I can run, if that's what you're asking. I don't think I'm that fast. I've never timed myself, nor have I been interested to. Why, though?"

Julie's eyes glinted. "I'll race you back to Teddy's cottage," She announced. "If I beat you, you have to dance around in the Winnie the Pooh costume for five minutes!" Without waiting for Rose to respond, she took off, sprinting towards the path.

"You better hurry," Rose saw Scorpius jogging after Julie. "She always does this kind of thing without waiting for the other person to agree, but she _will_ hold you to it. You'll be dressed as Winnie the Pooh if you don't hurry up." He grinned, and looked backwards. "You coming?"

Rose only hesitated for a second before nodding happily, and ran to join him.

Her broken heart had started to heal.

_Capisce- Italian for 'understand'_

_I might do an extra chapter next time for NickxRose letter exchange. Would you like that, or do you want to continue with the plot?_


End file.
